


Til the Tide Takes My Soul

by pinkevilbob



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, MerMay, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-02-29 00:39:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18767632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkevilbob/pseuds/pinkevilbob
Summary: It was supposed to be a typical ren faire, but then Jester meets Caleb, a guy pretending to be a mermaid. At least, Jester thinks he's pretending. Mermaids can't be real right?





	1. Chapter 1

The thing was that ever since she was a little girl, Jester was obsessed with mermaids. All of her art somehow included a mermaid, every birthday cake was a mermaid, and up until she was 16 Jester told everyone who asked that she was going to be a mermaid when she grew up. So, it was torture that her face painting booth was across from the mermaid tank at the ren faire. The whole time Jester wanted to stop painting and just watch the mermaid performer.

Or rather the merman performer. He was super skinny, but not in a sick looking way, and his long mermaid tail just made him look all the scrawnier. His tail was a rusty red with patches of goldish orange scales that matched his auburn hair. Jester never really pictured a merman with a beard before, but it suited him well. A leather thong was wrapped around his left bicep and seashells dangled from it.

Jester was having a hard time focusing on painting butterflies and flaming skulls on the cheeks of children, but she managed to stay on task somehow. But later in the afternoon, the crowds waned giving her a better view of the merman. Molly tapped her shoulder. “Go on, I can man the booth by myself for a bit. You go and visit your mermaid.”

“Thank you, Molly! But he’s a merman,” Jester corrected with a laugh. “I’ll be be back before you know it!” She had to keep herself from running all the way to the mermaid tank. It was just a pretend thing for kids, but this was the closest thing Jester was ever going to get to meeting a real mermaid.

The merman lounging at the bottom of his tank close to the back of it. A sign next to the tank said his name was K’lib. Outside of the tank was a small woman in dark roguish clothing. “Here to see the merman?” the woman asked. Her name tag said Nott the Brave.

Jester nodded so hard her horns nearly slipped off. “Yeah,” she said as she readjusted her horns. “I’ve heard of other ren faires having mermaid tanks, but this is the first year we’ve had one here.”

“This merman was rescue and rehabilitated just a few miles off the coast here. He can’t speak like people do and is shy around adults, but he can understand us,” Nott said. “You can go right up to the glass, but don’t tap it.”

K’lib watched from his corner as Jester approached the glass of the tank. His tail was amazing; it looked so real and there wasn’t a seam to be seen. He suddenly swam up to the glass and Jester gasped when she saw his eyes. They were the brightest blue she’d ever seen. Blinking slowly, he pressed his hand to the glass. Jester, butterflies building in her stomach, mirrored him and matched her hand to his.

“Oh! Usually he’s way more shy than this. For a dollar, he can retrieve for you a treasure from the deep if you’d like,” Nott said.

Jester nearly dropped her wallet in her excitement as she fumbled to get it out of her bag. Her hands shook as she paid Nott.

K’lib watched them, dove down to the bottom of the tank, grabbed something, and then came up out of the water. Leaning over the side of the tank, he handed Jester a small glittery stone. He was a strange sort of handsome without the glass and water distorting him. The makeup work was really impressive. Freckle like scales spackled his shoulders and arms and tiny ones dusted his face. Even up close, Jester would swear that his gills were real. His hand brushed hers and shivers went down Jester’s spine.

“Thank you,” Jester said softly.

He clicked several times and whistled. Nott raised an eyebrow at him and then turned back to Jester. “He says ‘you’re welcome’.”

“You speak mermaid?” Jester asked.

Nott tilted her hand back and forth. “A little. You pick up a few things if you spend enough time with mermaids.”

A crowd of kids started to form once more. “I should go. Thank you!” Jester called to the merman. K’lib waved at her.

Jester’s cheeks were hot red and she couldn’t stop smiling when she got back to the face painting booth.

“Had a good time?” Molly asked.

Jester nodded and showed Molly the stone K’lib gave her. She knew that it was just a guy in a costume, but to her it was real and she was too overwhelmed to talk.

Molly ruffled her hair. “Good for you. Now let’s get back to work.”

* * *

 

The first day of the ren faire came to a close, and Jester closed up the face painting booth. Nott was finishing up closing the mermaid tank booth, and Jester thought she looked like she could use some help so she went over. “Hi!” Jester called out right behind Nott.

Nott nearly jumped a foot in the air and held her chest as she caught her breath. “Oh, it’s you. Do you need something?”

Jester shook her head. “No, I just wanted to see if you needed help.”

“I think we’re good here,” Nott said. “Right, Caleb?”

From behind the tank came out the merman, though he was in normal clothes now(though he still had on his scale makeup) and more noticeably a wheelchair. He was dressed warmly with a scarf wrapped around his neck and a blanket completely covering his legs. The wheelchair wasn’t very fancy looking and had several water bottles sloshing about on the side. Caleb nodded at Nott and then waved once at Jester with a shy smile.

“Oh, hi,” Jester said pushing her hair back behind her ear. “I really liked your performance earlier.”

Caleb turned to Nott and signed something to her.

“He says thank you. He appreciates such a,” Nott paused for a moment, “nice audience.”

Jester frowned with concern. “Is he deaf?”

Caleb shook his head and took a sip from the water bottle he was holding.

“He just can’t talk with his mouth. Caleb can hear you just fine,” Nott said.

“Oh okay!” Jester leaned forward towards Caleb. “You did really great! You must be able to hold your breath for a real long time.”

Caleb shrugged, took another drink, and signed something.

“He’s had a lot of practice,” Nott said. Then the sound of singing came out of nowhere.

“Ocean Man take me by the ha-” Nott hurriedly answered her phone.

“Hello? Yeza? I can’t hear you. I said I can’t hear you! The reception here sucks. Let me try closer up to the front!” Nott turned to caleb covering her phone. “Will you be okay by yourself?”

Caleb nodded with a slight roll of his eye and waved her off. Once she was on her way, Caleb had more of his water.

“Being a mermaid must be thirsty work,” Jester said. He gave her a curious look. “Oh, my name’s Jester! I really liked your show. I’ve always wanted to meet a mermaid. And yeah I know you’re not actually a mermaid, but this is as close as I’m ever going to get. Since they’re not technically real.”

Caleb started to sign something but stopped himself. Probably because she didn’t know sign language. Instead he pulled out his phone, typed something into it and then showed it to Jester.

-I’m the closest thing I’ve ever been to a real mermaid too.-

Jester giggled reading it. Caleb took the phone back and typed a new message.

-Can I ask what you are?-

“What am I?” It took Jester a moment to remember that she was still in her ren faire makeup, so she was all blue. Add the fake fangs, ears, horns, and tail, and Jester probably looked really weird. “Oh right, this. Some sort demony girl. I think Molly called it a tiefling. Molly’s the other guy at my booth. He designed our costumes.”

A frown crossed Caleb’s face like he was disappointed or something. His cell phone buzzed and Jester gave him back his phone. He took a sip of water first, nodded at his phone and typed a reply and then typed something else and showed it to Jester.

-I have to go now.-

“Okay. It was nice meeting you. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow!” Jester said.

Caleb smiled softly and nodded before waving goodbye. He rolled along his way, but one of the wheels of his chair got stuck in a rut. After he struggled for a moment, Jester ran up to him.

“Can I help?” Jester asked.

Caleb looked her over a moment and then nodded clicking his tongue.

Jester grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and pushed, but the wheelchair wouldn’t budge. She tried to pull it back to get it out, but that didn’t work either. “You’re stuck really good here.” Kneeling down, Jester checked the wheel. “Yeah, I don’t know why this is so stuck. I’m going to try lifting this out.”

Caleb started to shake his head, but Jester had already started lifting the chair up. Using all her strength, Jester lifted the wheelchair up, and the wheel popped out of the rut a lot easier than Jester had expected. The wheelchair started to tip over and she tried to stop it, but it fell over anyways and Caleb tumbled out of it.

“I’m so sorry,” Jester said scrambling to help Caleb up. She paused when she saw him. He still had his mermaid tail on and was tangled up in his blanket. “Why is your tail still on?” Jester went to pick him up, but he struggled to to get away. “I’m sorry, but I need to get you back in your chair. I won’t hurt you, I promise I won’t.” Caleb looked at her solemnly with his bright blue eyes and slowly nodded.

Jester wrapped an arm just below his shoulders and scooped her other arm under where his knees should’ve been. Only she couldn’t find his knees. The tail was solid muscle. “This isn’t a fake tail is it?” she asked with a growing dread.

Caleb shook his head stiffly. Terror covered his face making Jester feel even worse for what just happened.

“Okay,” Jester said. Trying to calm her nerves, she got Caleb up and righted his wheelchair with her foot. Once he was in his chair again, Jester carefully covered his tail with his blanket. His scarf was askew showing a tube like contraption that kept his gills wet. She readjusted his scarf to hide it. “There, everything’s hidden. Do you need help getting where you’re going?”

Caleb huddled towards the back of his chair like he was trying to disappear into it and nodded. He held out his phone to show her the text he got earlier saying to meet someone named Veth at the main gate.

Jester took Caleb to the front gate both of them completely silent. Her mind was racing a thousand miles per hour trying to wrap her head around the fact that Caleb was a real life mermaid. This was amazing and impossible to believe, and Jester didn’t have an idea of what she was supposed to do with this information. She wasn’t going to tell anyone about this of course, but she wanted to shout it out on top of her lungs. If she was at home, she’d be screaming into her pillow with excitement. But it was hard to be happy about this with how miserable Caleb was looking. He kept sipping from his water bottle and looking nervously up at Jester.

At the front gate was Nott. She waved at them, but she looked confused when she noticed Jester.

“Hi,” Jester said. “Caleb fell and I helped him back up and it might’ve been my fault. But he’s okay now.”

Caleb signed something. “‘She knows’?” Nott repeated slowly and her eyes grew wide with fear. “You mean she knows about?” She waved about in an indistinct fashion.

“I’m sorry. His wheelchair got stuck and I tried to get it out and I knocked it over and he fell out and yeah,” Jester said.

Nott rubbed her temples. “This is not happening.” Caleb signed something to her. “Yes, no, Caleb, I know that this actually is happening. It’s a phrase.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” Jester said. She knew that she wasn’t very serious looking, but she hoped that they’d believe her. “I promise. This is an important secret, right?” Nott nodded. “Then I pinky swear.” She held out her pinky to Nott.

“I don’t think you get it. This is Caleb’s safety that’s on the line here,” Nott said.

Jester drew up her shoulders. “I get it. I could blab all over the place and people would go after him and stuff. I’ve seen the movies. He’d get dissected or cooped up in a cage and prodded or stuffed and mounted.” Caleb blanched. “So I can’t tell anyone. I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.” Holding up her right hand, Jester drew an X over her heart with her other hand.

Caleb looked puzzled, but he mimicked Jester anyways. Nott looked down at him. “Is that enough for you?” He nodded. “Okay then. Thanks for helping Caleb. We probably won’t be here tomorrow, but thanks.”

“Oh, okay. Goodbye then, I guess.” Jester was disappointed, but it made sense. What if other people were around when Caleb fell? It was probably too dangerous, but still Jester wanted to see him again. Even before she knew what he was, there was something magical to seeing Caleb swim in his tank. She couldn’t imagine was it was like to see him in the actual ocean. Her cheeks burned hot at the thought of how amazing it would be.

Jester was starting to leave, when a truck pulled up. It was old and rusting and butter yellow. Caleb frowned at it, pulled at Nott’s sleeve, and once he got her attention, signed something very pointedly.

Nott sighed. “I know. But the van broke down today, so Yeza had to bring his truck. We’ll figure out a way to get you in it.”

Caleb frowned like he didn’t believe her. Out of the front of the truck hopped out a curly haired man who was a little bit shorter than Nott, which was an impressive feat. There was no way Yeza(Jester was guessing that he was Yeza) and Nott were going to be able to get Caleb up in the truck by themselves(even with how skinny he was,Caleb looked like he outweighed the two of the combined).

“Um, do you need some help?” Jester asked.

“Oh, we’ll figure something out,” Nott said.

Jester frowned at this not believing a word of it. “I’m actually a lot stronger than I look. I picked Caleb up earlier by myself.”

“Really?” Nott sounded more surprised than Jester would’ve liked.

Caleb nodded in agreement.

“Well, no reason why she can’t give it a try,” Yeza said sounding a little trepidatious. Caleb snorted and nodded with more enthusiasm(but not much) at Jester.

With a smirk, Jester easily scooped up Caleb careful to not disturb his blanket. “Alright. Where am I putting you?” Jester asked him. He pointed at the passenger side of the truck. It was one of those with only one row of seats. Caleb opened the door of the truck.

Seated in the middle of the row was a little boy, maybe 5 years old by Jester’s guess, playing with a little stuffed octopus. “Hi Caleb,” he said softly.

Caleb signed something back to the boy as Jester slid him in the truck's seat and buckled him in. The boy leaned over to Caleb and whispered something in his ear. The merman blushed a bright red and ducked his head down before signing something back.

"Um, can you put the chair in the truck bed too?" Yeza asked. There was a similar shy quality to his voice as the little boy's.

"No problem," Jester said. As she put the wheelchair in the back, she couldn't help but notice that there were only three seats in the truck. "Does Nott have her own car?"

Nott shook her head. "Nah, but I can squeeze in the front."

Jester had done that sort of thing plenty of times, but it still gave her an idea. "How 'bout I drive you then? I don't have anywhere to be tonight, and I'm guessing that you're going to need my help getting Caleb out of there."

"It's fine, you don't need to bother yourself with our problems," Nott said.

"Caleb said that he can just fall out of the truck and be dragged to the basement," the little boy said.

"Luc," Nott scolded. She then frowned at Caleb, who just shrugged, and looked hopefully at Jester. "Are you sure it won't be a trouble?"

Jester shook her head. "No! I'd love to help."

"We'll take your offer up then," Yeza said.

Jester couldn't help herself from beaming. She was going to see how a mermaid, well merman lived. "Okay, Nott. I'll take you in my car."

 

* * *

 

Nott sat nervously in the passenger's seat as Jester pulled out of the ren faire's parking lot. "I'm guessing you have a lot of questions."

"Yeah," Jester said. "Is Yeza your husband? And that little boy is super cute. Is he yours?"

"Um, yes," Nott said sounding a little caught off guard. "Luc's Yeza's and my little boy. He starts kindergarten this year and already knows his alphabet and can read The Cat in the Hat." Pride dripped from her every word.

Jester grinned. "That's pretty cool."

"He's very smart for his age." Nott paused and stared out the window. "I figured that you'd have more questions about Caleb."

"Well, yeah I do, I mean he's a real life mermaid. That's the coolest thing ever. But I don't want to be all weird about it cause then you'd be all 'oh no, she's super suspicious and might be after Caelb for nefarious reasons. I don't even know her name.'"

Nott chuckled. "Caleb told me already. You're Jester, right? I'm Veth."

"But your name tag said Nott the Brave," Jester said.

"That's my stage name," Veth said. "Veth doesn't feel right for a ren faire, you know?"

Jester shook her head. "I think Veth's a very nice name."

Veth smiled a small shy smile. "Thanks. Turn left here. You can ask questions about Caleb, if you want."

"Omigosh yes," Jester squealed. "What does he eat? Can he breathe above water? Did it take him a long time to learn sign language?"

Veth chuckled. "You can ask any questions you wantand you want to know what he eats? Fish mainly. Caleb can eat bread and stuff, but he likes fish best. He needs water to breath so he uses his water bottle to get the air and water he needs when out of water."

"That's pretty neat," Jester said. "Do I go straight here?"

"Yeah, go straight. And as for sign language, Caleb already knew it. It actually took us a day to realize that he was signing to us," Veth said.

Jester was so surprised she nearly jerked the steering wheel. "Really?"

"Oh yes, Caleb is very smart."

"How did you meet Caleb? Does he live with you?" Jester asked.

Veth nodded. "Yep, or at least he's staying with us for now. Yeza's a marine biologist; he has his own little research ship and everything. He was the one that found Caleb. Caleb was injured out in the bay." She grew quiet for a long moment. "There was a lot of blood. We didn't know if he was going to make it, but he did. It took he a long time though."

"So since he's doing better, Caleb's going back to the ocean soon, right?" Jester asked. She was kind of sad that she had only just met Caleb and he was going to leave soon, but it was probably better for him.

"He doesn't want to go back," Veth said. "Caleb won't tell us about what happened to him out there, but it must've been pretty bad."

Jester stared at the road of her not sure what to say. It just sounded so terrible. "He's happy with you though right?" Jester couldn't stand the though of Caleb being unhappy.

"With Caleb, it's hard to tell some times, but I think so," Veth said. "I think he's real glad to meet you though. Take a right."

"Really?" A big goofy smile spread over Jester's face.

Veth nodded. "He generally avoids people. I was surprised when he agreed to go to the ren faire. It was Luc's idea. He saw a video about mermaids at fairs at a friend's house."

"I'm glad Caleb decided to go. Otherwise I wouldn't have met him," Jester said.

"Third house on the left."

Jester pulled up to the house. The truck was already in the small garage and Veth led Jester inside it

The door was already opened to the truck and Yeza was standing outside it. "Caleb says he doesn't want to go in the pool. So we'll just go to the tank downstairs."

Veth frowned at this but she didn't say anything to this.

"Well, just show me where to go," Jester said cheerfully as she got Caleb out of the truck.

"Don't you need the wheelchair?" Veth asked.

"Why? It would just make going down stairs more complicated," Jester pointed out. Caleb comfortably wrapped his arms around Jester to keep himself steady. Her cheeks went red with how close he was to her, and she was very grateful for her makeup covering her face up.

Yeza and Veth led the way as Jester carried Caleb down the stairs with Luc following behind them. It was weird how slippery Caleb was and to feel him move in her arms. The fact that Caleb wasn't human was cemented firmly in her mind. But it kind of made the day all the more exciting.

The basement was unfinished and all gray with concrete walls. There was a kitchen table with several laptops on it, a small refrigerator, and mats in front of a giant fish tank. Floating in the tank was an assortment of brightly colored toys meant for a toddler. A small stairway that led up to a little over half way up the tank. Caleb point up the the stair and Jester took him up it. He wiggled out of his coat and her arms and flopped into the tank which no longer looked so giant with him in it. Instead, it looked small and cramp.

Caleb swam a lap around his tank and then popped his head out to smile faintly at Jester. Pushing himself up on the edge of the tank he reached into his coat pocket grabbing his cell phone. He tapped at various things and then showed Jester the screen. There was just a phone number.

"Do you want me to call this number for you?" Jester asked.

Caleb shook his head and pointed at himself.

"Oh, this is your number," Jester said. "You're giving me your number." A hot blush crept over her cheeks again. He probably didn't mean it like that, like a guy would at a club, but it was exciting to get a merman's number anyways. She pulled out her phone, typed his number in, and sent him a text.

Caleb's cell phone buzzed and he texted her back. -Since you don't know sign language, it will be easier to talk this way.-

-oh ya right. thanx - Jester texted back.

A moment later she got another text from Caleb -You can talk if you'd like. Your voice is very nice, don't silent it for my sake.-

"Oh, okay then," Jester said starting to giggle.

Caleb floated on his back his arms held up above the water keeping his phone dry while still breathing underwater.

Veth chuckled. "I've never seen him like this before. You must really like Jester."

Caleb shot her a look, but Jester couldn't help but notice that his face looked redder than it had before. -Ignore her. Veth's very nice, but she's a bit of a busybody.-

Veth looked over Jester's shoulder. "That's true, but I just want what's good for you."

Caleb typed something but deleted it. He set his phone down on thick edge of the tank and signed something at Veth before grabbing his phone again.

"I don't have anywhere to go. I was thinking of staying here the whole evening or at least until Jester was ready to go home," Veth said.

Yeza nudged Veth. "Umm, maybe we should give him some privacy."

"Okay," Jester said. "I should probably get going too. I wasn't trying to overstay my welcome, and I wasn't trying to intrude on your privacy either, Caleb. It was a lot of fun meeting you." She started to climb down the steps.

Caleb's face fell. "You can stay," Yeza said. "He just prefers being with maybe one person at a time. He could use a guest."

"I can stay?" Jester asked. She was disappointed by the idea of leaving already.

Caleb nodded his hair floating all around him. He broke the water to get his phone and typed a text. -Please stay-

"Yeha, I can stay," Jester said.

Veth had a strange smile on her face, picked up Luc, and nodded to Yeza. "We'll get out of your hair then." They went out of the basement.

Jester sat down on the mat and stared up at Caleb. The water was clearer here than at the tank at the ren faire booth. It was sterile looking, but homey nonetheless with the toys. In the corner of the tank, there was a tarp that almost looked like a tent. Her guess was that it was for Caleb's privacy. Veth and Yeza obviously tried to make it a home for Caleb, but it still looked like a small cage. The tank was maybe twenty feet long and wide and ten tall, and Caleb probably needed a lot more space than that, but he seemed happy. Especially with how he smiled at his phone.

-I appreciate you staying and visiting.-

“No problem. I bet it gets super lonely here,” Jester said.

-I suppose so. But Yeza and Veth are very kind, and I have my phone. So it’s not bad.-

Jester frowned. "Yeah, but bad isn't the same as lonely. I lived with my mom and was super nice, but she was super busy so I didn't get to see her much, so it was also real lonely."

Caleb looked at her thoughtfully. -I think you may have a point there.-

"Besides, I bet you miss all your mermaid friends."

Caleb frowned and looked away. -I don't have any.-

Jester looked up from her phone in surprise. "But you must have some friends back in the ocean. There must’ve been some mermaid that you were friends with."

-There weren't any.-

"You didn't have any friends?” Jester frowned at the thought of it. “Well, I'll be your friend then."

-You will?-

Jester nodded. "Of course I will."

Caleb smiled shyly. -Thank you. That's very nice of you.-

"Hey, it's no problem being your friend. I'm try to make as many friends as I can. You can never have too many friends," Jester said. "But you have to promise me that when you get back to the ocean, that you're going to try to make at least one new friend, okay?"

Caleb's face darkened. -I'm not going to the ocean.-

"But that's your home," Jester said. "Don't you miss it?"

-I've never lived there. Everyone keeps saying that it's my home and where I belong there, but I don't. I'm never going back there.-

She pouted at this. "But you're a merman. All mermaids come from the ocean." Jester gasped. "Unless you're actually from a river."

Caleb shook his head. -I'm not from a river. Or a pond or a lake.-

"Then where are you from?" Jester asked.

Caleb set his phone down and sunk down to the bottom of the tank.

Jester stepped back. She didn't know that she was going to make him so mad. All she wanted was to get to know him better. "I'm sorry, Caleb. I'll leave you alone." Putting away her phone, Jester turned towards the door to leave.

A soft tapping thudding noise stopped her. Caleb was tapping on the window and pressed his hand against the glass. He kept tilting his head to it. Jester came back and pressed her hand mirroring him. There was a connection there even if the glass separated them. "Is it okay if I come back some time?" she asked.

Caleb nodded.

"And we're still friends?" Jester asked. He nodded again. "Thank you!"

Caleb smiled softly at her as Jester left. It took all of her willpower to keep from squealing as she ran up the stairs. She was friends with a real life merman. Sure, he was full of mystery and secrets, but what was the point of being friends with a cryptid if there was a hint of the unknown?


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the ren faire went well, but Jester kept staring at the now empty mermaid tank and wondering how Caleb was doing. She only just met him, and now he was all she could think about. Partly because he was a real actual merman, and the other part was he just seemed so alone.

It was tempting to text Caleb during her breaks, but she wasn’t sure if it was too soon to message him. He’d probably think she was being clingy or something. Jester stuffed her phone in her pocket and took out again for the sixth time. Really, there wasn’t any harm in checking in on Caleb. She typed up a fast text and sent it off. -hi caleb! Its jester wanted to make sure you were okay :) -

Five minutes later, Jester’s phone buzzed. It was Caleb.

-I’m doing fine. Thank you for asking. How are you? -

Jester smiled to herself. Caleb was funny with how formal his texts were. -Im GREAT! The ren fair’s lonely without you and veth though-

Her phone buzzed again before she could get it back into her pocket. -Do you want to come over again?-

-Yessss!!!- Jester sent the message and then had second thoughts. -is it okay with yezza and veth?-

-They won’t mind. Yeza will probably think that it’s enriching. And Veth likes you.-

Jester grinned down at her phone. She had honestly thought that she probably wasn’t going to see Caleb again even after he said she could.

“Whatcha smiling at?” Molly asked. He leaned over her shoulder trying to read Jester’s cell phone.

Jester hid it quickly. “Nothing, it’s nothing.”

“Didn’t look like nothing to me,” Molly said.

“Well, it might’ve been the merman from yesterday,” Jester said.

Molly smirked. “It might’ve been?”

“I helped him out yesterday, and he’s really nice. I’m going over to see him again today.”

Molly leaned in closer to Jester. “Why, is that a blush I see?”

“Shut up,” Jester said pushing Molly away with a smile. “It’s not like that at all. I don’t think he’d ever notice me that way.” But, oh, the idea of it sounded delicious. To be loved by a merman was straight out of a fantasy, but Caleb was real and to be treated real. Not that it stopped her from drawing romantic scenes before she went to bed the night before.

“Even if it isn’t, you should leave early,” Molly said. “We won’t have much more business today anyways. Go home and getcha self cleaned up for him.”

“Are you sure?” Jester asked.

Molly nodded. “Yeah. Now go make yourself cute, and catch yourself a fish boy.”

Jester giggled and saluted Molly. “Aye, aye!”

* * *

 

Jester was nervous on the way to see Caleb. While she was getting ready, Jester got a text from Veth saying to bring a swimsuit. She had grabbed her pink one piece and her swimming things putting them in a summery looking tote bag. But, maybe this was actually a bad idea. Maybe she was reading too deep into things again. And maybe she hadn’t learned her lesson from Fjord after all.

Shaking the thought of Fjord out of her head, Jester pulled into Veth and Yeza’s driveway. She nervously twisted the straps of her bag as she waited at the front door. The door opened to reveal Veth. “Jester?”

“Yep! It’s me! I took off my makeup early,” Jester said.

“I almost didn’t recognize you for a moment there. Follow me. He’s in the backyard.” Veth led Jester through the house. It wasn’t very big or fancy, but it was obviously a happy home.

Luc was coloring at the table and looked up when he noticed Jester. “Can I play with Caleb too?”

“You’ll have to ask Caleb, but I think that he’d like that,” Veth said.

Luc jumped up and grabbed a small beach ball and a couple of hula hoops. He took Jester to the backyard. Though calling it a backyard was a bit of a stretch as most of it was taken up by an enormous pool. A canopy was erected out of pvp pipes and tarps blocked the view from the sides and above.

“We used to help rehabilitate harbor seals here, so we were lucky and had it this already when Caleb came here,” Veth said.

“That’s really neat.” Jester stopped short of the pool. She didn’t see anything in there yet.

Luc threw the beach ball and it landed in the middle of the pool. Caleb popped up next to it and bopped it back to Luc. He turned and then seemed to notice Jester. His eyes grew wide and he dashed down to the bottom of the pool.

Veth went down to the pool. “Caleb, Jester’s here to see you.” Jester couldn’t see him, but it looked like he was saying something to Veth. “Of course she looks different. She doesn’t have her face paint on.”

Caleb poked his head up over the edge. “Hi Caleb,” Jester said waving at him. He pushed himself up on the edge and waved back at her. Even while signing at Veth, his eyes didn’t leave Jester.

“Caleb says he’s glad that you’re here. He was hoping to see you again,” Veth said. “Though he thought you’d be bluer.” Caleb blushed and ducked his head down.

“I’ll need to show you how I put my makeup on sometime then,” Jester said.

He stared up at her for a moment and then nodded.

“Hey Luc,” Veth said. “How bout you show Jester how you and Caleb play together?”

“That sounds fun to me. Can I play too?” Jester said.

Caleb was starting to frown, but he quickly brightened up and nodded.

Luc threw the ball at Caleb who hit it back to Luc with his tail. They threw and hit the ball back and forth until Caleb hit it to Jester. She fumbled with the ball for a moment before throwing it to Caleb. Caleb then bopped with the ball with his hands to Luc. The boy frowned at this. “That’s cheating. You can only use your hands every ten turns and it’s only been nine.”

Caleb signed to Luc only to receive a shake of Luc’s head. “Even with Jester playing, it was only nine turns. I was counting.”

“If Luc’s counting, then he’s probably right,” Jester said. “Is there a penalty game?”

Luc shook his head. “No.”

“Do you want there to be one?” Jester asked.

Luc smiled and nodded. “Yeah.”

Caleb blew bubbles into the water with frustration.

“You were the one who broke the rules Caleb,” Jester said. “So you have to pay the cost.” She rubbed her chin and tried to think of a good punishment game. Looking around, Jester noticed the hula hoops and grabbed one. “You have to hit two balls into the hoop! How does that sound Luc?”

”Yeah! Two goals!” Luc agreed with a big grin.

Jester held the hoop out to Luc. “Do you want to hold the hoop?”

Luc nodded and grabbed it. Jester threw the ball to Caleb. “Can he use his hands?”

“No.”

Caleb frowned at all this, but he tossed the ball up anyways and batted at it with his tail. It missed the hoop by a foot.

“Warm up. That was a warm up. This is the real one,” Jester said. She tossed the ball at Caleb who hit it through the hoop that time. “Woot!” Caleb smiled at her.

“That’s one!” Luc announced.

Jester threw the ball overhanded. Caleb swatted the ball and scored it again. “Woo Caleb!” Jester cheered.

“Two!” Luc shouted.

“You have to do a victory lap Caleb!”

Caleb stared up at Jester confused. “Swim around the pool once because you were victorious.”

He gave her another confused look, but began to slowly swim around the pool.

“Yeah, Caleb!” Jester started to cheer. “You’re so cool!”

Luc joined Jester in cheering. “Yay!”

Caleb’s cheeks were very red when he finished. He signed something to Luc.

“Caleb wants to go back to the normal game now,” Luc said.

Jester ran to grab the ball and threw it back to Luc. They threw the ball around and Caleb would swat at it with his tail. Eventually the ball flew over Luc’s head, and he decided that he was done with the game. Instead, Luc grabbed the hula hoops.

Caleb squirmed with excitement. Luc threw a hoop into the pool. and Caleb darted through it before it hit the bottom of the pool. He caught the hoop on his tail fin, dragged it along behind him, and flipped it up when he reached the surface. “Grab it,” Luc said.

Jester grabbed the hula hoop and Luc tossed in the second one. If anything, Caleb went through this one even faster than the first. It took a little while for them to get into the groove of it, but soon they able to have both of the hoops in motion at all times. Finally, Caleb hooked the hula hoop but kept it in the water with him.

“He’s done,” Luc said. “Let’s ask Mama if we can swim now. Mama said that I can swim with Caleb only if there’s an adult with legs with us.” He took Jester by the hand and dragged her back into the kitchen. “Mama! Can we go swimming?”

“Did you ask Jester if she wanted to swim?!” Veth yelled back.

Luc leaned over and whispered to Jester, “Do you want to go swimming?”

Jester nodded. “Sure,” she whispered back.

“Yes! I asked her! She wants to swim!” Luc shouted.

“Ok! Go get dressed! And show Jester where the bathroom is! She can change there!” Veth yelled.

Luc quickly showed Jester the bathroom. “Here’s the bathroom. Get changed quickly, okay?”

“Okay.” Jester smiled as Luc ran off. Jester put on her pink swimsuit and looked at herself in the mirror. The swimsuit was cute with a ruffled peplum, and Jester liked to think that she was cute too, but there was a doubt. One that lived in the back of her head that told her that if she was cuter or more mature or just better then maybe Fjord would’ve liked her back. She shook her head trying to exorcise that thought from her head. Fjord was gone and out of the picture. What was important was Caleb. A blush crept over Jester’s face. Not that she liked Caleb in that way. It was just that it was fun spending time with him. Oh, and he was a merman.

Jester was going to swim with a mermaid who was her friend. She smiled to herself. Caleb was her friend. He actually had agreed to be her friend. It was more than she could have asked for.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. “Are you ready?” Luc asked.

“Oh, right!” Jester tied her towel around her waist and followed back to the pool.

* * *

 

Caleb submerged himself to the bottom of the pool. Jester had came back to visit him. Part of him thought that he had made her up or something. True, she wasn’t actually blue and was just a normal person, but still she was nice and liked playing with him and Luc. It felt silly and childish at first, but Jester seemed to love it which made it not so bad.

It was exciting actually being able to meet someone new. He’d never really had done that outside of meeting the Brenattos. And Jester was amazing. She was pretty and talented. Caleb had seen the paintings she’d done on the kids at the ren faire and they were beautiful detailed thins. The best part was that she decided to come back to see him. That was the part that Caleb had trouble believing. Veth said that since he was a mermaid that made him special, but Caleb had a very hard time believing that.

Luc ran up to the pool. Caleb quickly swam up to make sure that Luc didn’t accidentally fall into the water before he was ready to go in. The little boy was all smiles. He was only allowed to swim if his parents were around, and Veth and Yeza were busy most days with research, but apparently Jester counted as a substitute in this case.

“Don’t run!” Jester called out and Caleb turned to see her. It felt like everything stop. Caleb had watched tv, and Veth showed him magazines, and Yeza taught him about the internet, so Caleb knew what people considered to be pretty and attractive. Jester topped all those things. She was wearing a pink swimsuit and her hair was in pigtails(her hair was still blue which Caleb appreciated). For a human, she was probably considered short though she was taller than Veth and Yeza, and Jester was very soft and round. He had trouble keeping his eyes off of her legs. Legs were weird things that he understood were important and was always curious about, but he preferred his tail. But on Jester, legs were perfect.

Jester untied her towel and Caleb got a better look at her legs. He could feel his face turning hot and dove down into the water to cool down.

“Can we go in now?” Luc asked.

“Go on ahead,” Jester said.

Luc appeared in the pool on the other side jumping in. Bubbles shot up around him. Jester slipped into the pool more calmly. Caleb took his head out of the water and got a smile from her. His heart thumped loudly in his ears.

Jester gave him an odd look. “Are you okay, Caleb?”

His face turned red again and he nodded. “I’m glad you’re here,” he signed.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re saying,” Jester said.

“He said he’s glad you’re here,” Luc said splashing up to them. “I am too!”

Jester grinned and Caleb got lost for a moment just staring at her. “I’m glad I’m here three.”

Caleb frowned at this. He did know what she was counting, but he chalked it up to it being a human saying.

“Wanna race?” Luc asked Jester.

“Sure! Caleb do you want to race too?” Jester asked.

Luc pouted. “Caleb’s too fast to race with. He always wins by a lot even when he’s tired.”

“Then how ‘bout you and me race for second place?”

“Okay,” Luc said all serious.

Jester lined them all up along the edge of the pool. “Ok, first one to the other end of the pool and back wins. Ready? Set, go!”

The humans pushed off the wall and started to swim. It took Caleb a moment to remember that was the signal to go. He kicked off with his tail and zipped across the pool reaching the other end in seconds, looped downwards to turn, and returned to the edge before Jester and Luc made it to the other side. Caleb always thought that his speed and ease in the water was a simple thing, but it impressed Luc.

The first of the humans to return was Luc. The boy was born to swim, though maybe not to the same degree as Caleb was. Jester was okay at swimming by human standards though. Once she returned, Jester laughed, “Luc is the grand champion!”

“Caleb got here first,” Luc pouted.

“Being a fish is artificial enhancement,” Jester said. “So Caleb’s disqualified.”

With that, Caleb’s eagerness to be there with them evaporated. He sunk down to the bottom of the pool. For a moment, he had forgotten that he didn’t belong with them. That he didn’t belong anywhere. And Jester knew it. Caleb hid his head in his arms.

A tap on his arm interrupted Caleb’s thoughts. He looked up to see Jester looking at him with concern. She pointed up to the surface and swam up. Reluctantly, Caleb followed her up.

“What’s the matter?” Jester asked.

Caleb shook his head. She didn’t need to worry about him.

“I didn’t hurt your feelings, did I? I mean, I like that you’re half fish. It’s just part of what makes you special,” Jester said. She leaned in and whispered, “I just didn’t want Luc to be disappointed.”

That made sense to Caleb. He liked Luc, and the boy was sensitive to what others said. It was kind of Jester to think of his feelings. But that didn’t stop what Jester said from being true. Even if she didn’t realize it.

Jester put her hand on Caleb’s arm and smiled at him, and he couldn’t help but smile back. There was something about her that he just couldn’t deny. “Cayleb,” she said. And that was it just his name, but it sounded perfect. She giggled and swam off.

He could’ve caught up with her in a matter of seconds, but instead he just watched her swim off. Jester turned back and gave him another smile. This time he did not stay back but instead shot off and caught up with her. She startled backwards and splashed him in the face. “Cay-leb! You nearly scared me!”

Caleb sunk backwards. He didn’t mean to scare her. But then she laughed again. “You’re a very a very fast swimmer.”

He gestured at his tail. It was easy to be fast with it. And he was rewarded another laugh. Caleb wanted to keep her laughing, but he didn’t know how.

Jester shook her head splattering Caleb with drops of water. He splashed her back. She tried to scowl at him but a smile kept breaking through. “Oh, this means war.” They splashed around and Luc joined in the splashing fight until Veth came out.

“Dinner time!” Veth called out.

Luc groaned. “Can’t we keep swimming?”

Veth shook her head. “It’s time for you to get dried off and ready for dinner. Do you want to join us Jester?”

“Nah, I should probably be getting home,” Jester said.

Caleb frowned. He wanted her to stay there with him, but he was just being selfish.

Jester climbed out of the pool and then turned back to Caleb. “Do you think I can come back sometime? Say tomorrow?”

Caleb nodded hard and signed, “You’re very pretty and I want you to come over every day.” But there was no one there that knew sign language to translate it. Just the way he wanted it. He couldn’t tell her that, but Caleb needed to say that.

“Ok,” Jester said with a wide smile. “Text me later okay?”

He nodded again and dove down into the water after she left. Caleb did loop de loops to burn off the energy and excitement he had in him. Jester wanted to come back again.

Caleb was interrupted by Veth coming to the pool. “You had a good day I take it.”

“I like having Jester here,” Caleb signed.

“I do too,” Veth said. “You know, I think I’ve never seen you so excited before.”

Caleb shrugged. Jester was exciting and that was all there was to it. At least, he hoped that Veth thought there was all to it.

“Maybe it’d be good for you to meet more people.”

Caleb shook his head. “It’s not safe,” he signed.

“I just don’t like seeing you cooped up like this all by yourself,” Veth said. “You know we worry about you.”

“I’m fine,” Caleb signed and sank down to the bottom of the pool ending the conversation. He had the Brenattos, his phone, a tablet for auditing college courses, and activities that Yeza called enriching. Caleb didn’t need anything else.

Except for maybe Jester.


	3. Chapter 3

After the first day she swam with Caleb, Jester spent the rest of the night texting back and forth with Caleb and every night for the next week and a half. She was starting to get the strong suspicion that he was the smartest person that she had ever met. His messages were always short and direct, but if Jester could get him started on the right subject, then he would go on poetically for hours. He told her all about sea otters and river otters and the differences between them, but the subject Caleb really loved was octopuses.

-They're at least as smart as humans and have great maneuverability. If for some reason the octopuses had to fight the dolphins, the octopuses would win.-

Jester laughed when she got that text. -why would the dolphins fight the octopuss?-

-I don't know, but if it were to happen, the octopuses would win.-

Jester and Caleb would text and talk even on the days that Jester came to visit. She would sometimes swim with him, but sometimes Jester would just sit next to the pool, and she and Caleb would talk and text and discuss anything and nothing at all. It was a surprisingly natural friendship between the two of them.

"Caleb," Jester said leaning down towards the water. "I've got a surprise to show you."

"What?" Caleb signed. Jester was learning sign language, but it hadn't even been two weeks yet and it was a slow learning process, so Caleb was being patient with her.

Jester grinned. "It's a surprise for tomorrow."

Caleb grabbed his cell phone. -You're coming over tomorrow?-

"Veth said I could. I mean unless you have a problem with that."

Caleb shook his head. "You can come over every day if you want."

"I don't want you to get tired of me," Jester said.

-I don't think it's possible to get tired of you.-

Fjord certainly did. A frown crossed Jester's face, and she banished it quickly. "You're too sweet, Caleb."

A blush crossed his cheeks. -It's true. Veth, Luc and Yeza like you too."

Jester rolled her eyes. "They just like that I play with you."

-I like that too.-

"Thanks Caleb. So, I have a surprise tomorrow, but then I won't be here the day after and I won't be able to talk to you until late."

Caleb looked hurt at that. -Why not?-

"I'm going to a party on Friday. Oh! You should come," Jester said full of excitement. "Yeah, I'll put makeup on your scales and you'll be in your wheelchair and people won't notice that there's anything weird about you since it'll be super dark."

-I don't know it that's a good idea.-

Jester tugged on Caleb's arm. "It'll be fun and I'll introduce you to my friends. Oh man, wait until you meet Beau and Molly. They'll-" she was about to say 'love', but then remembered that this was Beau and Molly she was talking about, "tolerate you, but that’s just because they're slow to warm up to people sometimes. And we can dance together."

Caleb frowned. -I don't know how to dance.-

"I'll show you then," Jester said. "It's mainly moving to the music and having fun even if you look silly. And there's a lot of people at parties, so no one's going to look at you."

-It doesn't sound very safe- Caleb texted. -I'll pass on your offer.-

Jester couldn't entirely blame Caleb, but it didn't stop her from being disappointed. "Okay, but I'll tell you all about it, okay? Full report including how much more fun it would've been without you."

Caleb smiled sadly. -I'll look forward to your report then.-

* * *

 

The next day Jester practically was vibrating with excitement. She had a bulky bag with her along with her swimming bag. Caleb was going to love her surprise. Jester bounced up and down as she knocked on the Brenatto's front door.

Veth opened the door with a sad look on her face. "Oh, hello Jester. I'm sorry, but today's a bad day to visit Caleb. I should've texted you."

"What happened? Is Caleb sick?" Worries race through Jester's head.

"No, it's not like that. It's just a tank day."

"What’s a tank day?" Jester asked.

Veth frowned trying to think of the right words. "A tank day is, well, when you brought Caleb back from the ren faire was a tank day. He has bad days sometimes and feels the tank's safer."

"Did something happen?"

"A plane flew low and spooked him, but there's not always a reason," Veth said.

Jester heart sunk at this. "But he's okay though right?"

Veth shrugged. "Yes, but it just takes him a while to feel better."

"Can I still visit him anyways?" Jester said. "I did tell him that I was going to be stopping by."

"I don't see why not. But he'll probably not be up for much company," Veth said.

Veth led Jester down to the basement. After seeing the pool, the tank felt even smaller. Caleb huddled in the corner with some stacking cups that small children would play with. He'd put them in each other and take them out over and over again.

"Caleb," Veth said gently, "you've got a visitor. Jester's here to see you."

Caleb stayed at the bottom of the tank and press his side against the glass. A small wave was all the greeting that Jester got from him.

"Hi Caleb. I wanted to show you something, but if now's not a good time that's okay,” Jester said.

Caleb didn’t turn, but he signed something anyways.

Veth sighed. “Caleb, I can’t read what you’re saying if you don’t face me.”

Frowning, Caleb finally turned towards them and signed again, but it was too fast for Jester to catch a word of it.

“He says he wants to know what your surprise is,” Veth said.

Jester reached into her bigger bag and pulled out a fake mermaid tail for swimming in. “So that I can swim with you. I mean only if you want to of course.” Caleb looked at her blankly. “Sorry, this was probably a stupid idea.” He probably thought that she was making fun of him.

“I think it’s a fun idea,” Veth said. “But maybe Caleb wants to be the only mermaid here.” Caleb shook his head and signed quickly. “Oh, he says that he thinks you’d make a great mermaid and wants to swim with you on a safe day.”

“Not today?” Jester said trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

Caleb shook his head again and turned to his side again.

Veth placed a gentle hand on Jester’s arm. “I think Caleb’s had enough today.”

“Bye then Caleb! I’ll see you Saturday,” Jester said.

“We have guests on Saturday, so Caleb will be lying low,” Veth said as she took Jester back upstairs. “But Sunday should be good.”

Jester nodded. “Sounds good to me. Um, is Caleb okay?”

“That was actually really good for Caleb on a tank day. Usual he won’t talk that much. Before he met you, he’d have 3 tank days a week, but this is the first since you’ve started coming. You’ve done a lot of good for him.”

Jester took a step back in surprise. “Really? Me? I haven’t really done that much except for hang out with him.”

Veth nodded. “Sometimes that’s all a person needs.” She paused and pulled something out of her pocket. “You know, Caleb goes in for the night on most weekend nights at 11 o’clock.”

“Okay?” Caleb had mentioned that to Jester before when he had to stop typing for a while at night.

Veth handed Jester a key. “It’s to the fence to the backyard. If Caleb’s okay with it, you can visit him anytime you want.”

Jester’s jaw dropped. “You’re giving me a key?”

“Caleb likes you and it’d be easier than having you come through the house after Luc’s bed time,” Veth said.

“Thank you,” Jester said. “It means a lot to me.”

Veth smiled at her. “It means a lot to Caleb too.”

* * *

 

Tears streamed down Jester’s face as she got into her car. How could she be so stupid? It didn’t even cross her mind that Fjord was of course going to be at the party, and when Jester saw him, she went and made a fool of herself again. There was just something about the handsome sailor that turned Jester’s knees into mush and left her tongue tied. And since Fjord was there, so was his new girlfriend Avantika. A fresh batch of tears formed in Jester’s eyes as she thought about it.

It was all Jester’s fault. She should’ve known better than to flirt with Fjord. But no, Jester just had to tease and stroke his ego right in front of his girlfriend. Jester didn’t know that Avantika was there, but really, she should’ve known. Luck was the only reason why Jester didn’t get hit by the punch Avantika threw at her. Instead it hit Fjord and Jester ran out before he could say anything about how dumb she was. Now, Jester was the laughingstock of the party and everywhere, and she was crying in her car like an idiot.

Her phone buzzed and Jester wiped the tears off her face. It was Caleb. -How’s the party?-

-Super lame and boring you are missing nothing- Jester typed back. -Im leaving early-

Her phone indicated that Caleb was typing, but it stayed that way for several minutes. Finally Jester received a text. -Ah. So, you’re going home then?-

-Might as well i have nowhere else to go- Jester texted back.

-You can come over here. Veth said that you have a key to the gate, and I don’t go to bed until 11.-

Jester checked the time and it was only 9:30. It would only take ten minutes to get to Veth’s most likely and she could touch up her makeup in the car and no one would know that she had been crying. -sure ill be right over-

* * *

 

Caleb swam in circles waiting for Jester. She had never came that late before, so it made it all the more intriguing. He tried to stay calm, but Caleb couldn’t help it. Jester was coming. His stomach felt all weird and funny at the thought of Jester coming, but it was in a good way and not like he was going to be sick. Veth and Yeza were inside and he didn't want to bother them, and part of Caleb didn't want them to know. They whispered and exchanged knowing glances whenever Caleb mentioned Jester or if he got excited when Jester came over.

His phone buzzed and he scrambled to go get get it. -hi caleb its jester im like here and just want you to not panic when i open the gate- Caleb swam over holding his cell in the air to the other side of the pool to be as close to the gate as possible. When the gate opened, he nearly dropped his phone with nerves. It was Jester.

She was wearing a black top with a white skirt that had colorful blotches all over it. A red wide belt divided it. Her hair was all done up and her face was brightly made up(but not blue which always disappointed Caleb a little). It was the prettiest that Caleb had ever seen Jester, but there was something wrong. Despite her big smile, there was an overhanging sadness to her.

"Caleb!" Jester called out eagerly. She hurried over to the pool. "Oh man, the party was so lame."

That must've been it. Jester was just disappointed that she wasn't having a fun night like she had planned. -I'm sorry to hear that.- Caleb texted.

"It's alright. The music was dumb, the snacks were stale, and there wasn't even anyone fun there," Jester said with a sigh. "I should've just skipped it all together and hung out with you instead."

Caleb's heart jumped at that. -Really? You'd rather be with me?-

Jester nodded. "Yeah, you're the funnest person I know." But there was still that sadness hiding behind her smile.

He wanted to ask her why she was sad and how could he fix it, but it didn't feel like his place. -Well, at least you got to dance, right? That was what you were most excited for.-

"Nah, the music really hadn't gotten to anything good yet when I left," Jester said.

-Can you dance here?- Caleb asked.

"What?"

Caleb ducked down a little. -You said you wanted to dance. You can do that here on the grass.- He knew it was a stupid idea as soon as he typed it, but he sent it to Jester anyways.

A small gasp came out of Jester. "Cayleb! I've got an even better idea." She lowered herself into the pool still in her party clothes.

-What are you doing?- Caleb asked.

Jester looked at her phone before setting it by the pool. "I'm going to dance with you. Here." She grabbed her phone and music started to play from it. Her skirt billowed in the water and it looked better than it did on land in Caleb's opinion.

His cheek burned red at the sight of her in the water with him. From the phone came an upbeat poppy song. -What do I do?-

"You move with the music however it makes you feel," Jester said treading the water. "Now, put your phone down and dance me." She led the way moving her hips rhythmically but not quite in time with the music. With her arms, she made huge movements and motions.

Caleb tried it, but it didn't feel right and Jester must've sensed it. "You gotta move your feet or, well, tail in your case. Come on." She dove down and danced under the water her movements slower and a little more awkward, but Caleb couldn't take his eyes off of her. It was beautiful to watch her. He mirrored her moves still uncertain what to do, but it earned him a smile and thumbs up from Jester. The song ended and Jester went up for a breath of air. "I don't know how you can keep your head out of water for so long all the time."

Caleb shrugged. He had a lot of practice with it. A new song began to play. This one was much slower than the last one and had a smooth feeling to it.

"Oh, this is a slow dance. I can skip it if you'd like," Jester said starting to swim away.

Gently, Caleb grabbed her hand and shook his head. It was a good song, and he wanted to see how Jester would dance to this one.

Jester blushed. "Oh, okay. I guess I can show you how to slow dance. Here." She grabbed his right hand and set it right above her hip and rested her arm on his and held his left hand in her right. "And you just kind of sway with the music."

Caleb could feel his face turn red again, but he didn't try to move away from Jester. Instead, he kept her in his arms. They swayed awkwardly turning in a slow circle. Sinking gradually, the water surrounded them, and Jester's hair floated in the water. It was perfect, and Caleb felt - he didn't quite have the words to say how he felt. He never wanted to let go of Jester, but hold her closer to himself, but he didn't know if she would want him to. Probably not, but he could imagine what it would feel like if she would let him.

Jester smiled at him squinting through the water. It was an easy sincere smile, not the one she was using to hide how she was feeling. Caleb took them both up so her head could break out of the water and she could finally get another breath of air. The song ended and Jester grinned at him. "Are you sure you've never danced before, Cayleb? Cause you're very light on your feet." She giggled, and Caleb guessed it was a joke but he wasn't certain.

Caleb stared at Jester her hair plastered to her wet face. There was something that he needed to tell her, and he wasn't even sure what it was but he had to tell her. He grabbed her hand and placed it on his chest. She gasped and stared at it. There was something in his heart for her, he just knew it, and he wanted her to know it.

"Your heartbeat?" Jester asked. "Oh!" She grabbed his other hand and placed it over her heart. "Yeah, they beat the same, don't they. We're not that different." Jester's heart was soft and fluttery under Caleb's hand, but he couldn't tell if it was really saying the same thing as his.

He left his hand there for a long moment and Jester didn't move hers either. It meant something. But what was the question.

"I think you have a good heart Cayleb," Jester said. "I hope you know that."

Caleb wanted to say the same thing to Jester, but that would mean moving his hand away from her. So, he just kept his hand there resting on her chest. And he hoped that this moment would never end.

But time was not timeless, and Jester moved away from him. "I love this song!" She swam to her phone and turned up the volume. "Dance with me, Cayleb!" Jester grabbed both of his hands and plunged into the water pulling him with her. They twirled in a circle and Caleb laughed despite himself. If this was all there was to him and Jester, even then he would be a very happy man.

* * *

 

Jester collapsed next to the pool after dancing with Caleb for over an hour. Caleb floated just under the surface of the water. The door opened to the house and Yeza stepped out. "Oh, I didn't realize that you were here Jester."

"Yeah, the party was a bust, but Caleb and I had good time tonight," Jester said.

Caleb popped his head out of the water and nodded.

"It's nearly 11. Do you mind helping me getting Caleb into his tank?" Yeza asked.

Jester nodded with a grin. "Sure! I don't mind at all." It was easy to get Caleb out of the pool. He wrapped his arms around her, and she could feel her stomach flip flop at his closeness.

Yeza had an odd half smile on his face and led them down the stairs. Caleb was reluctant to let go of Jester when they got to the tank, but eventually he did. -Can you come visit on Sunday?-

"Heck yeah I can!" Jester's only plan was face painting at the farmers' market and then finishing up a mural that weekend.

Caleb smiled the widest that Jester had ever seen and her heart melted at the sight. She was lucky to have met him. Jester waved at him one last time and left.

Yeza messed with his phone as he took Jester up to the front door.

"What's that?" Jester asked.

"Oh my wallpaper? Here." Yeza brought up the picture. It was selfie of all the Brenattos and Caleb. Everyone was smiling though Caleb's was a lot quieter. "The whole family."

"That's cute," Jester said.

Yeza shrugged with a smile. “Thanks.” He paused at the door. "You know, I used to work at a zoo. There was a polar bear that reminds me a lot of Caleb."

"Was he all orange and stuff?" Jester asked.

"Not like that. But sad and melancholic. He'd just swim in circles and had no interest in anything. We tried all sort of things for that bear, but nothing seemed to work," Yeza said. "Eventually, after months of trying, we landed on the right solution."

"And what was it?"

Yeza grinned. "We got the polar bear a girlfriend." He opened the front door. "You have a good night, Jester."

Jester nodded. "You too." What Yeza said stuck in her mind as she got into her car. Was she a polar bear’s girlfriend? If Caleb was the polar bear, then Jester wouldn’t complain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man so the dance scene and touching each other's hearts came from a conversation with Poyo and I couldn't wait to write that scene. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so giving you guys a heads up and warning you that there are some references to medical torture in this chapter. I don't go into detail, but I figured I'd let you know in case you're not comfortable with that sort of thing.

Jester finished her final butterfly of the farmers' market with a smile. "There you go!" The child ran off to show their mother. With a stretch, Jester got up. It was a good morning and all, but Jester was ready for a break before going off to finish her mural. It was a simple field of flowers for her friend's room, but Jester wanted to have all her focus for it.

Once she packed up, her phone rang. It was Veth. "Hello?" Jester answered.

"Hi, Jester? This is Veth. Can I ask a huge favor of you?”

“Um, sure, I guess?” Jester only had a few last details for her mural, so as long as the favor didn’t take too long, she should be able to do it.

“It’s Caleb. He heard about our guest today and is all in a panic,” Veth said.

Jester’s stomach sunk. “How can I help? I don’t know how good I’d be at calming him down.”

“No, we don’t need you to calm him down. It’s more like he needs to get away from the house for a few hours or most of the evening,” Veth said. “It was the oddest thing. Yeza mentioned Dr. Ikithon and Caleb immediately started going on about how it wasn’t safe.”

“Have you ever had guests over before?” Jester asked.

“Yes, Yeza’s parents visited a few times and Caleb was fine with staying in his tank in the basement.”

Jester frowned at this. She hated the thought of Caleb being cooped up, but it seemed like Caleb never minded it before. “Who’s Dr. Ikithon?”

“Trent Ikithon’s one of the top marine bioengineers. He’s considering inviting Yeza to be involved his current project, which would be a major feather for Yeza’s cap,” Veth said. “But with how’s Caleb reacting to him, I don’t think joining Dr. Ikithon’s such a good idea after all.”

Jester nervously bit her lip. “Do you think Caleb knew Dr. Ikithon before Yeza found him?”

Veth sighed. “Caleb won’t say. He’s a very private person. So would you mind taking him out for a while? It would be like a date.”

“What?!” Jester sputtered out. Not that she minded the idea, but she was pretty certain that nothing was going to happen between them in the long run. “I mean I don’t mind taking Caleb out, but it wouldn’t really be a date.”

“Of course not,” Veth said, but oh, there was a smile hiding on her face, Jester just knew it. “You’ll do it?”

Jester nodded and then remembered that Veth couldn’t see her. “Sure. It’ll be fun to go out with Caleb.”

“It will mean a lot to him, I think,” Veth said. “Can you get him in two hours?”

“Sure! I’ll see you then.” Jester waved the phone goodbye.

* * *

 

Jester was nervous when she got to the Brenatto’s house. Was Veth right in saying that this was going to be a date? It sounded ridiculous, but Jester liked the idea of it. She tugged on her skirt and hoped that she wasn’t over dressed for this. Knocking on the door, Jester tried to banish her nerves.

Veth opened the door. “Thank goodness you’re here. I’m sorry, but Caleb been stressing all day.”

Caleb was already in his wheelchair with a water bottle in his lap and pacing the hall. He stopped when he noticed Jester was there and smiled, but worry still lined his face. He signed something, but Jester couldn’t tell what he was saying.

“He wants to know if you’re ready to go,” Veth said. “You’re usually not this impatient.” He signed something else and Veth just sighed. “You two have fun. We’ll text you when our guest is gone.”

Caleb froze at the mention of the guest, but he recovered fairly quickly. Jester kept quiet next to him until they got to her car. As she picked him up, Caleb shook in her arms. “You really don’t like him do you, Caleb?”

He shook his head and texted her. -Dr. Trent Ikithon is not to be trusted.-

“Okay, if you say so,” Jester said as she put him into her car. She had to fight his wheelchair to fit it into her trunk, but she managed to fit it in. “What do you want to do today Caleb? There’s a really neat chocolate shop with the best coco nearby.”

-Can I just stay in the car? I don’t want to risk being seen.- Caleb huddled against the seat like he wanted to disappear into it.

Jester frowned at this, but she wasn’t going to argue against his logic. “Ok. I’ll show you around town and my favorite places okay?”

-That sounds fine to me.-

“Oh, Caleb, you are in for a treat. I give the best tours. Where do you want to start: trees, city, or water?”

Caleb frowned at his phone for a moment. -Trees?-

Jester grinned. “Good choice. The trees here are really neat.” She pulled out of the driveway and started their trip.

Caleb stared silently out the window drinking his water. As they got out of the city, they were surrounded by tall evergreens. “Pretty, aren’t they,” Jester said not sure of what to way. “I’m from further down the coast, so we don’t have a lot of trees. That’s part of why I stayed up here.” The other part may have involved wanting to stay around her friends which may have included a certain sailor, but by this point, he was just a footnote.

“I don’t really know what any of these trees are, but it’s better than a bunch of dead grass. It’s inspiring to be surrounded by so much life.” She sometimes missed her mom, but there was something exciting about being on her own. “What do you think Caleb?”

He just shrugged continuing to stare out the window. It was almost like trying to talk to Fjord about feelings.

The road curved forcing Jester to slow down. A deer stepped out into the road and she stopped. It stared at them and Caleb leaned forward to see it. “You don’t see a lot deer at Veth’s place, do you?” Jester asked.

Caleb slowly shook his head and continued just watching the deer with awe. The deer stared at them and then slowly made its way across the street. Once it crossed, Caleb looked away to type something on his phone and showed it to Jester. -I’ve never seen one of those up close before.-

“Yeah, deers don’t really go into your part of town. They shouldn’t be in the city in the first place, but sometimes they make their way in.” Jester started to drive again.

After the deer, Caleb looked visibly more relaxed. He couldn’t talk but he seemed more responsive to what Jester had to say. There wasn’t much to talk about, so Jester told him the stories of the ‘adventures’ she’d been on with her friends in the woods. She wasn’t particularly outdoorsy, but Beau liked to show off and take them all hiking. Hiking wasn’t an option for Caleb, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to show him the best sights.

She pulled over into a small gravel parking area and stopped the car. “Check it out,” Jester said. Before them was a great snow capped mountain. “Don’t have that in the sea do you?”

-no- Caleb texted barely taking his eyes off the mountain.

“In the winter, it’s super busy up there cause everyone’s skiing and stuff. Have you ever seen the snow?” Jester asked.

Caleb nodded. -I was here during the winter. I stayed mainly in the tank though. The cold’s not very good for me.-

“Yeah, that makes sense, but it’d be fun to sled with you.”

A chuckle. -I’d fall out in five seconds. Luc would be a better companion for that.-

“Fine, but you’d have to wait inside with hot chocolates for us,” Jester said. “And you can’t drink it all before we get inside.”

-I can’t. Drinking anything but water just chokes me and makes my gills sticky.- He took a sip of water.

Jester gasped. “So you can’t drink anything? No soda or milk? What about milkshakes?”

Caleb smiled at her. -No to all of those, but I can eat ice cream.-

“Oh at least there’s that,” Jester said. “I was starting worry for your well being.”

-I’m not much into sweets, but ice cream is good.-

“Oh, there’s some really good ice cream shops here. They make the ice cream locally. I’ll have to take you to all of them so that you can get into arguments over which one is the best,” Jester stated.

Caleb fought back a laugh. -Is that really that important?-

Jester nodded fiercely. “Having a favorite ice cream shop is a matter of pride.”

-Then I’ll have to make my mind up quickly.-

“Ice cream is serious business,” Jester said. “You shouldn’t joke about it.”

-I won’t then.- Caleb was silent for a long moment. -Thank you for taking me up here. It’s beautiful.-

Jester nodded. “I know right? We’re lucky to be here.”

-Ja.-

Jester squinted at her phone. “Is that Zemnian?”

-Ja. It was my first language-

“Mermaids speak Zemnian?”

Caleb shrugged. “I do.”

“You are a mystery inside a mystery, Caleb.”

He shrugged again.

Jester smiled shyly at him. “I like you anyways.”

Caleb turned beet red and turned his head a way.

After watching the mountain for 15 more minutes, Jester started the car up. “It’s getting close to dinner time. There’s super tasty things in the old historic district.”

Caleb agreed and they were off. He stared out the window as Jester drove. While he didn’t seem as sad or worried as he was earlier, it was hard to read the look on his face.

“Are you having fun Caleb?” Jester asked.

He turned and gave a slight nod before turning back to the window.

“It’s just that you’re being super quiet, but I guess you’re always quiet and stuff.”

Caleb let out a low whistle and clicked three times making Jester giggled. “Okay, I guess you’re not that quiet then. I just wish you’d tell me what’s going on in your head.” He rests a hand on her arm. It didn’t tell her much, but it was a nice gesture.

* * *

 

Usually Caleb hated being in a car so long, but there was interesting things to look at and Jester was there, so it wasn’t so bad. She kept looking at him nervously and he wished that he could just put her at ease, but his mind was too busy worrying about Trent Ikithon. What was he doing going to Caleb’s house? Talking to his family? Caleb banished the thought from his head. The Brenatto’s, as kind as they were, were not his family and probably didn’t want to be thought of that way. He should be more focused on Jester.

She pretty that day, but she was pretty every day. Being cute and beautiful came naturally to her. Caleb could spend a whole day just looking at Jester. He had to force himself to keep his eyes off of her and instead watch the scenery go past them.

Soon they were back in the city. He was a little disappointed to be back amongst all the cars, buildings, and people. Jester told him all about the history that she knew of the small city. Caleb had already read about it, but it was fun to hear her talk about it. Once they got to the historic district, Caleb found himself staring with interest at all the old buildings and structures. Most of them were over a hundred years old, which was older than most things that Caleb had seen.

“Cayleb, what sounds good to you for food?” Jester asked.

Caleb shrugged. Typically he just ate raw fish and was happy with that.

Jester pouted and looked around before squealing with excitement as she noticed something and then parked. “Are you ready to get out of the car?”

-Can I just stay inside here?- he asked. The thought of something going wrong and someone seeing him kept racing through his head.

A frown flickered on Jester’s face, but she quickly smiled covering it up. “Sure. I’ll get us something to go.” With that, she ran across the street to an old two level bus. Jester spoke to the person in the bus and a few minutes later returned to the car with two steaming plates of food. “Fish and chips!” Jester announced.

Caleb frowned at it. None of it looked like fish or chips. There were three brown big pieces of something and smaller things that were more unified in size and shape. He took a bite of one of the bigger things only to burn his tongue.

“Oh, careful. It’s fresh from the fryer, so it’s really hot,” Jester said. “Maybe you should let it cool. I’ve got a better place for us to eat anyways.” The car rumbled beneath them as Jester started it up again.

Caleb focused on making sure that the food didn’t spill so he didn’t really notice where they were going until the car stopped. He looked up to see the ocean spread out before them. It was beautiful with the sun just starting to sink into it and his heart nearly stopped.

“This is the best place in town to see the sunset,” Jester said with a hint of a smile. “I hope you don’t mind. I know that the ocean’s a touchy subject for you, but I wanted you to see it.”

-No, it’s fine. I forget how beautiful it can be.- Caleb texted.

Jester took her plate from him. “Me too sometimes and then I get here and it’s like falling in love all over again.”

Caleb took another bite of the brown thing and realized that it was fish which meant the smaller things had to be the chips. He preferred his fish raw, but he wasn’t going to let Jester know that. Giving Jester a thumbs up, he took a bite of chips. It was okay.

Jester bit into her fish and sat back with a pleased smile. “So good.” Caleb nodded quietly and continued to eat his meal quietly as the sun slowly got lower and lower.

“It’s almost too quiet,” Jester said as she turned on some music and turned to the volume down so it was just softly playing in the background. It was the same song that they slow danced to the night before. Caleb hummed along to it. “You really like that song, don’t you? You know what? We should totally go through my music and I’ll make you a playlist with all the stuff you like.”

Caleb nodded. He hadn’t finished his food yet, and he didn’t want to get his phone messy. That and it didn’t feel like he needed to say anything. Just being with Jester was enough for him.

As he finished his food, it was starting to get dark. Jester pointed to the sky. “Look at the moon.”

Caleb looked up and his mouth was agape. It was nearly as beautiful as Jester. -I’ve never seen it in person before.-

“What?!” Jester shouted. “But it’s up in the sky where anyone can see it. Did you live in like a cave, Cayleb? Or did you live super deep in the ocean?”

He was half way tempted to ignore her question or just say no and leave it at that, but she didn’t deserve that. Jester deserved the truth even if the thought of telling her made Caleb feel sick to his stomach. -No. I didn’t live in a cave or in the depths of the ocean.-

“Oh okay, Cayleb,” Jester said. “You don’t have to talk about your past if you don’t want to.”

-I don’t have to or want to, but I need to tell you.-

* * *

 

Jester stared at her phone. Caleb was going to tell her all about his mysterious past. He sent her another text. -I’ll tell you, but please don’t look at me or touch me. And don’t say anything till I’m done. Please?-

It was a strange request and Jester wanted to question it, but she was worried that if she said anything he’d just close up on her again. “Okay, Caleb,” she said turning away from him, “I won’t peep at you or anything. I promise.”

-Thank you.- There was a long silence that was only punctuated by the sound of Caleb having another drink of water. Finally, Caleb started to type something. -I was born in a lab.- A pause. -No, that’s not the right word. What I should say is I was created in a lab.-

Jester nearly dropped her phone. She wanted to ask what he meant or if he was just joking, but she promised to be quiet.

It was a long while before Caleb sent his next text. -Dr. Trent Ikithon is an expert when it comes to bioengineering especially genetic bioengineering. From what I can understand, he’s been trying to find ways to make humans live longer through the study of marine life. That’s why he made me. I was supposed to be a test to see if human genetics were compatible with fish, which the answer obviously is yes. I don’t think I was even supposed to be sentient, but here I am.-

-There was a pair of researchers, a married couple, who were in charge of testing my intelligence. They took care of me and taught me how to read and write and sing language. First in Zemnian and then in Common. My designation back then was 13-REN, but they called me Bren. Una and Leofric Ermendrud were the closest thing I knew to parents.-

-They tried to keep me safe. Dr. Ikithon had to a lot of tests on me. Drawing blood and vivisections and such. It had to be done on dry surfaces, so I mastered holding my breath even with my gills dry. He’d get furious if I’d ask too often for water to breath. But the Ermendruds tried to limit how often those tests were done.-

The word vivisection jumped out to Jester since she had no clue what it meant. She looked it up and felt sick to her stomach. The process of cutting into a living creature for experimental purposes. And it sounded like Caleb was awake during them. Bile built up in Jester throat, but she forced it down.

-One day, the Ermendruds were setting up a maze or something to test my memory and there was an accident. They died.- It sounded like Caleb was laughing or crying and Jester couldn’t tell which. -It was my fault. If they didn’t get so attached to me, they’d still be alive. There wouldn’t have been an accident if I didn’t exist.-

“Caleb,” Jester said no longer able to keep herself silent. “It’s not your-”

-Don’t.- Caleb let out a shuddering sigh. -This is is hard enough as it is. I probably shouldn’t be burdening you with this.-

Jester wanted to tell him that it wasn’t a burden and to comfort him, but he wasn’t ready for that yet.

-After that, the tests and experiments increased. But seven months ago a research assistant was sloppy and they didn’t tighten the straps enough on me before leaving to go get something. I was able to slip away and managed to find my way out and into the ocean. They were starting a vivisection on me, so I was cut open and passed out when I got to the ocean. That’s when Yeza found me.-

-Dr. Ikithon has his ways to find me in the water. That’s why I can’t go to the ocean. But maybe he’ll find me no matter where I go.-

Caleb sighed and Jester could hear the sloshing of water as he took a drink. -And now you have it. The truth. I’m not real. I’m not human. I’m just a creature and not even a real one.-

Jester held out her hand not looking at Caleb in case he wasn’t ready for her to look at him. After a moment, Caleb put his hand in hers and she placed it over her heart and held it there. She offered her other hand to Caleb and he put it over his heart. “See? They beat the same.”

“Ch- J-” Jester turned to see Caleb trying to say something. Tears rolled down his face and he looked completely heartbroken. “Jsss-trrr.”

Jester nodded trying to hold back the urge to cry and failing. “Yeah, that’s my name.”

‘Jss-trr.”

“Caleb. You’re real to me. Really real. You know that right?” She could feel Caleb’s heart thumping hard under her hand. “And how your life started doesn’t change that at all.”

The look on Caleb’s face told her that he didn’t believe that, but he didn’t pull away for her either. “Jss-trr.” And it wasn’t proper talking, but her name never sounded more sad or beautiful.

Abandoning reason, Jester moved forward and kissed Caleb. She hit the corner of his mouth and caught part of his beard. It was a terrible kiss.

Caleb stared at her for a moment, and Jester was about to apologize when Caleb kissed her back. His mouth tasted like fish and the traces of salt from his meal. It wasn’t a fancy kiss, but it felt right. Jester didn’t want it to end, but then Caleb pulled away and took his hand off her chest.

-This will never work.-

“I know,” Jester said quietly.

-I’m not safe.-

“I know.”

-But, I think I love you.-

“I think I do too.”

-Stay with me. For the night, stay with me.-

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...this is not how I expected the chapter to end but it felt right. Also I hope that Caleb's backstory works for you guys and makes sense.
> 
> I really appreciate you reading and I hope you're enjoying this fic.


	5. Chapter 5

The Brenattos didn’t ask any questions when Jester asked to stay the night. They just set up an air mattress in front of Caleb’s tank and gave her a pile of blankets. Jester shoved the air mattress next to Caleb’s tank and slept pressed up against the glass. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was close to Caleb.

The chances of this lasting, of Jester getting to stay with Caleb, were incredibly low. She wasn’t stupid, of course she knew this, whatever their relationship was, was going to be short lived, but that wasn’t going to stop her from enjoying it while it lasted.

In the morning, Caleb stared at her forlornly as she got ready to leave. -Do you have to go? You can stay if you’d like.-

“Yeah, I didn’t bring any clothes with me. Besides I have stuff to take care of today,” Jester said.

-I’ll miss you.- Caleb texted.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Though Jester didn’t really want to wait that long either. “We’ll just have to wait till then.”

Caleb sulked in his tank, but he nodded.

Jester waved him goodbye and received smirks from Veth and Yeza as she left. She tried not to think about it, but their knowing smiles weighed on her.

But they were nothing compared to Molly’s when Jester finally got home. “Where have you been?” Beau asked with more than a little worry. “I’ve been waiting all night for you.”

“Sorry, Beau,” Jester said. “I was having such a good time last night I forgot to text you that I was spending the night.”

Molly grinned like a cat that got into the cream. “Is this your first walk of shame? Our little Jester’s growing up.”

Jester turned red. “It’s not like that!”

“Please tell me it wasn’t Fjord,” Beau said.

“No. I was with Caleb yesterday,” Jester said.

Molly leaned forward. “Wait, you mean the merman?”

Jester froze and panicked for a moment worried that Molly had figured out Caleb’s secret and then remembered that Molly just knew him as a mermaid tank performer. “Yeah, he’s really nice and I showed him around yesterday and I spent the night at his place. Well, it’s kinda his place. He lives with a super nice family and they let me use the air mattress.”

Molly sighed. “Nothing sexy ever happens on air mattresses.”

“Wait, is this that guy you’re constantly texting?” Beau asked.

Jester nodded. “Yeah. Well, not constantly, constantly. But a lot, I guess.”

“It’s nice to see that you’ve finally moved on from Fjord. He really wasn’t worth,” Beau said.

“I guess you’re right,” Jester said, but it felt weird. Fjord was still important to her, but except for the party, Jester was thinking Caleb instead of Fjord. Part of her had a feeling that her crush on Fjord would never completely die, but that wasn’t going to stop her from moving forward and falling in love with someone else.

Molly ruffled Jester’s hair. “It kills me to agree with her, but of course Beau’s right. Now tell me all about your fish boy.”

* * *

 

Jester fell asleep on top of her blankets texting Caleb. She had asked him if he’d prefer to be called Bren, but Caleb said that his new name was a better fit for now.

Her phone buzzed next to her head waking her up all of a sudden. It was a text from Caleb. -help-

Jester stared at the phone hoping that he’d send another message explaining the last one or at least show that he was typing. But all there was was nothing. She grabbed her bag and ran out the door.

It was probably just a false alarm, but Jester couldn’t risk it. She texted Caleb to let him know that she was on her way and got into her car. Jester was probably overreacting and tried to tell herself that as she sped down the road, but she couldn’t shake the dread building up in her stomach.

As she turned on to the Brenatto’s street, nothing seemed wrong. The house was there not on fire. The street was silent. The only person up was Jester, but it felt off. Jester knocked on the front door. No response. She called Veth’s phone, but it went straight to the voicemail. Trying not to panic but failing, Jester ran to the fence and unlocked the gate.

The first place she checked was the pool even though it was too late for Caleb to be there. Empty. Well, empty except for the water. Jester tried the back door of the house, and it opened. The house was eerily quiet as Jester crept through it. It probably counted as breaking and entering, but Caleb had asked for her help, and without proper grammar which was completely out of character for him. So Jester went down the stairs leading to the basement and his tank afraid of what she’d find.

Jester flicked on the lights. “Caleb?” Blinking at the sudden bright light, her stomach dropped when she saw the tank; Caleb wasn’t there. She rushed towards it in case he was hiding behind his privacy tarp, but it was obvious that he wasn’t there.

The panic that Jester had been fighting off filled her. This couldn’t be happening. There was no way that Caleb could just be gone. Jester scanned the tank for some kind of clue and her eyes fell upon Caleb’s cell phone sitting at the bottom of the tank. There was no way that he’d just be that careless and drop his phone.

Jester ran up the stairs and looked in the garage. Both of the Brenatto’s vehicles were there, so it couldn’t have been that they just took Caleb out or something. She went to Veth’s and Yeza’s room and pounded on the door. No response. Refusing to give up, Jester knocked harder practically punching the door. Still no response. This door was locked when she tried opening it. It was one of those that had to pinprick from her side, so it had to have been locked from the other side.

Something was wrong, but Jester just didn't know what it was. She checked Luc's room on the off chance that he might be able to help her. Jester knocked on the door only to get no response and opened the door. Luc was fast asleep in his bed and Jester felt a bit guilty for disturbing him. "Sorry," Jester said and no response, not even a stir. Jester crept in and checked on him. He was barely breathing and not responding to even the hardest jostle to his shoulder.

Jester scooped Luc up in her arms and got him out of the house. His breathing was shallow. He was obviously sick and Jester had no clue why, but she had a feeling that the reason was in the house. She took in a deep breath and went back into the house going to Veth's and Yeza's room.

The door was locked, but that wasn't going to stop Jester. Gathering her nerve, Jester rammed her shoulder into the door. It gave a little, but it stayed in place. Jester gave it another shot and crashed into the room. Veth and Yeza slept through it all.

Jester grabbed Veth first and got her out of the house before going back in for Yeza. Her head pounded and she was starting to get so dizzy that she couldn’t think straight, but she was able to get Yeza out. Once out, Jester called 911 and passed out on the grass.

* * *

Jester woke up to a breathing mask strapped to her face. Looking around, she realized that she was in a hospital room. She tried to get up, but her head fuzzed and everything went black for a second so Jester just fell back on the bed..

"Oh, you're up," a medic said. She had white hair done up in buns."You're lucky that you didn't spend longer in that house." Jester tried to get back up, but the medic gentle pushed her back down. "Woah, not quite yet. We still need to check how you're doing. But I think you've got enough air." She removed the breathing mask from Jester's face.

"What happened?" Jester asked.

"Your friend's had a major gas leak at their house. If it weren't for you, they probably wouldn't have been discovered in time," the medic said.

"They're okay?" Jester asked.

The medic nodded. "That's right. It will be a few days before they're back to full health, but they should bee back to normal by the end of the month."

"That's good." The Brenattos were safe which was a relief, but Jester couldn't help but still be worried. Caleb was missing, and there was no way that he could've left by himself. He must've known that something was going on otherwise he wouldn't have texted Jester. And he dropped his phone in the tank. Jester's best guess was that he didn't want anyone to see it or find, but why? It didn’t seem likely that Caleb was hiding it from Yeza and Veth which made the thought of someone breaking in seem all the more likely. The gas leak couldn’t have been a coincidence.

"We'll just need to take your vitals and then we can send you on your way."

Jester smiled, but her heart was not in it. Something bad happened to Caleb, and Jester was the only one that could do anything about it. She just knew it. The only question was what could she do?

* * *

 

Jester ended up waiting in the hospital's waiting room hoping for any tidbit on how the Brenattos were doing. She kept checking her phone in case Caleb texted her even though she knew that was impossible. Several times she had to stop herself from texting him updates on how his family was doing. Finally, a nurse approached Jester. "Ms. Lavorre?"

Jester jumped up. "That's me. Are they okay?"

"They will be," the nurse said. He was lean with beads in his raven black hair. "Veth will be released later this evening barring any complications, but her husband and son need more time to recuperate. She said that you will be her ride."

"She did? I mean, yeah, I'll totally pick her home. I'm just glad to hear that she's okay. Can I visit her?" Jester asked.

He smiled kindly at her. "Of course." The nurse led Jester to Veth's room.

Veth was hooked up to an iv and looking completely annoyed, but she brightened up when she saw Jester. "You're here!"

Jester nodded. "I wasn't going to leave before knowing that you guys were okay."

"Well," the nurse said, "I'll leave you two then." And he walked away.

Veth leaned towards Jester. "Is Caleb okay?"

Jester fought an urge to cry. "I, I don't know. He wasn't in his tank or the pool."

"What? But, how?" Veth sat up and nearly pulled out her IV.

"I don't know," Jester said. "He texted me, but when I got to your house he was gone."

Veth frowned at this. “Someone took him. But who knew about him?”

“Ikithon,” Jester said. “Caleb told me about what happened to him before he met you and Yeza. It was Dr. Ikithon.”

“We should’ve never let him into our house. Dr. Ikithon kept asking about our rescue efforts, but I just thought he was interested in seal work.” Nott’s eyes widened and she went pale. “Wait, he also asked about a picture on Yeza’s phone. It was us with Caleb. We just said that Caleb was a college student that stayed with us, but that he was out with a friend that night. I didn’t think anything about it.”

“You didn’t know. I should’ve told you as soon as I knew, but I thought that it was Caleb’s place to tell you,” Jester said.

Veth shook her head. “No, you were trying to respect his trust. No one could’ve predicted this.”

“We’re never going to find him again, are we?” Jester asked fighting back tears.

“Don’t be so sure about that,” Veth said. “He’ll be a lot easier to find than you think.”

Jester straightened up. “Really?”

“When Yeza first found Caleb we didn’t realize that he was a person, so Yeza treated Caleb like he would any of the harbour seals we take in. Including attaching a tracker chip, so we could know that he was okay and staying away from populated areas. After we realized that Caleb was sentient, he was too scared for us to do the removal operation on yet.”

“You mean?”

Veth grinned. “We‘ve got a tracker and we’ve got a boat. We can find him.”

* * *

 

Veth wasn’t discharged from the hospital until later in the afternoon. Her house was blocked off, but she was able to slip in to get her keys and a spare set of clothes. Jester waited in the car anxiously. It felt like every second they weren’t actively getting closer to Caleb the less likely it was to find him. She knew that it was just in her head and that Veth needed to stop here, but it did not make Jester feel any easier.

Veth came out of the house dangling what Jester assumed was the boat keys. "The boat's at the dock so we don't have to worry about dragging it out at least."

"That's good," Jester said nervously gripping the steering wheel as Veth climbed into the car. Jester didn't even wait for Veth to close the door before starting to drive.

"We'll get him, I know it," Veth said, but she didn't sound fully convinced.

Jester plastered a big smile on her face. "Yeah, I know. But I don't want him to wait too long," she said as if they were just picking him up from the pool or something and not like they were afraid for his life. She had told Veth the whole story that Caleb had told her.

"That poor boy," Veth said once Jester finished. "Ikithon seemed a little creepy, but I just that that was because he was an old white guy with power in my husband’s field. You can never trust men like that, but obviously it's bigger than that."

"Yeah," Jester said once they got to the dock.

Nott led the way practically running down to Yeza's research vessel. Jester kept close behind her scanning the boats hoping that it was close. “Here it is!” Veth announced finally when they got to the end of the dock.

They called it a research vessel, but really it was just a tiny, old fishing boat. Something that was just for going out a few miles and back in at the end of the day. Jester was at least hoping for something more like the boat from Jaws, but no such luck.

Veth showed Jester a little screen. It had a map of the coast with little dots of varying colors on it. Some were moving and others stayed where they were. “The orange one is Caleb.” His dot was near an island about four miles south west of the docks and not budging. “This tracker is accurate within a half mile range.”

Jester frowned. “That’s a lot of space.”

“They used to be a lot less accurate. Used to be you were lucky if you could get it within 3 miles range. And check this.” Veth clicked a button and it showed a view of the water from the side and Caleb’s dot was a little bit over the surface. “He’s close to the surface.”

Jester bit her lip. That was better, but still a lot of area to search.

“And if he was kidnapped, then we just need to find where people are in that area,” Veth pointed out. She started up the boat. “We’ll find him; you’ll see.”

Jester nodded. They had to find him. If they didn’t, she didn’t know how her heart could take it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, so I know nothing about trackers or tracking chips. So if this is not how they work, um let's just say that's how they work in this universe.
> 
> Thanks to Poyo for helping me figure out what happens in this chapter and beyond. Without them, I would abandoned this fic.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, guys, you got your 'I hate Ikithon' shirts on? Cause you might need them for this chapter.

Caleb curled up in a tight ball. The tank he was in was far too small for him. He hugged his tail close to his chest. The room was full of voices talking about him as an it. Either none of them realized how intelligent he was or they just didn’t care.

He didn’t bother trying to sign to anyone. They were all in white lab coats, and each one was probably secretly convinced that they were the smartest person in the room. That was how it was in Dr. Ikithon’s old lab. The room was unfamiliar to Caleb, but it had all the fixings he was used to: a table with straps on it; recording devices; surgical equipment; a narrow, but deep pool for breathing; a bright overhead lights one of which was always burnt out. Caleb knew what this room for and who was in charge here. But it didn’t stop Caleb from flinching when Dr. Ikithon came up to the tank and tapped on the glass.

“I told you that escaping was pointless, 13-REN,” Dr. Ikithon said. “All you did was waste time and resources. We will have to rush the next few tests.”

Caleb hugged his tail tighter. Rushed tests meant painful tests. He wanted to be gone, to be not there, and to be with Jester. But that was him just being selfish. All he could do was hope that nothing happened to the Brenattos. With Dr. Ikithon though, Caleb knew that wasn’t very likely, so he messaged Jester when he heard people that were not the Brenattos in the house above him. And then he was taken away. It was stupid of him to think that he could get away from Dr. Ikithon.

“Hopefully your time away hasn’t been for nothing. Perhaps exposure to the outside will tell us more about. It even gave me ideas. After all, we haven’t tested what extremes your immune system can handle,” Dr. Ikithon said. That was the worse part; Dr. Ikithon knew just how intelligent Caleb was and liked to haunt him with future tests and experiments.

Caleb curled up into a ball and closed his eyes as tight as he could. It wouldn’t change anything, but if he tried hard enough maybe he could dream of Jester and the Brenattos.

* * *

 

Jester stared at the screen. It meant very little to her, but Veth told her to watch in case Caleb’s dot moved. The bay was smooth and the weather was calm, and both of these things did absolutely nothing towards calming Jester’s nerves.

The sky darkened as Veth drove the boat back and forth trying to cover as much ground as possible. There was no one else out in the area. Eventually, they started to get close to the island. It was small and for the most part forgettable with the only thing there was an old forgotten building and a smattering of evergreen trees.

“Do you think that Caleb’s in there?” Jester asked.

“It’s worth a try,” Veth said. There really wasn’t any place to dock the boat, but Veth managed to wedge it on a sand bar and they snuck up to the building. It was an old industrial one that looked more like a slab of concrete than anything else. On the side was a faded logo of a stylized three headed seal. “The Cerberus Association. That’s Dr. Ikithon’s research group.”

Jester’s stomach dropped. Part of her had hoped that her suspicions were false and that they didn’t have to deal with Dr. Ikithon. That Caleb wasn’t back with his torturer. But they weren’t that lucky. “Caleb’s definitely in there.”

Veth nodded and crept to the door with Jester following close behind. They tried the door, but it was locked. Jester prepared to break the door down, but Veth held up her hand, pulled out some bobby pins, and picked the lock. The door swung open.

Jester’s jaw hung open as she stared at Veth. Veth shrugged. “Just because I’m a house wife and research assistant doesn’t mean I can’t have hobbies. Now shh, we have to be quiet.”

Carefully, they crept down the darkened hallway. Veth was completely silent and nearly blended with the shadows. Meanwhile, Jester was distracted by worry and, despite her best efforts, nearly tripped. She caught herself in time, but there was still the loud sound of her shoes on the hard concrete. Jester and Veth froze against the wall, but nothing happened. Maybe the building was truly abandoned.

The hall ended in a T. “We should split up,” Veth said. “We can meet up back here in five minutes. If you find Caleb, don’t get him without me.”

“I won’t.” Jester set the timer on her cell phone for five minutes and shoved it in her pocket. “And don’t you either.”

Veth nodded and went down the left passage leaving the one on the right for Jester. Cautiously, she snuck along the hall. It turned right and a glow from a room softly illuminated the hall. Jester was tempted to hurry, but she kept her pace slow and steady. Once she got to the door, she poked her head around it to find that no one was there and went in.

The lights buzzed in the room and it felt too bright and smelled like cleaning solution. In the floor was a small pool four feet wide and ten long. She had no clue how deep it was. An operating table sat in the middle of the room. Straps hung off of it, and just the sight of it made Jester feel sick. Jester was about to leaving when something caught her eye; a tank in the wall. And in the corner of that tank was a familiar orange tail curled up. “Caleb!” she blurted out.

The tail loosened and Caleb poked his head out. He brightened at the sight of Jester and pressed his hand against the glass. This tank was far smaller than the one at the Brenatto’s. Jester placed her hand over his. “Don’t worry, Caleb, we’ll get you out,” Jester said. “Veth’s here too.”

Caleb shook his head furiously and made a shooing motion.

“Don’t you want to leave?” Jester asked. She could see how he feared this place by the look on his face. But he shook his head again. “But you’re not safe here.”

Caleb looked pained as he pointed at her and shooed her away again.

“Caleb,” Jester said gently, “I’m not leaving here without you. I promise.”

Caleb hit the glass hard and signed something, but Jester only understood the word ‘you’. He was pleading to her probably to leave, but Jester refused to abandon him.

“I’m here for you, okay? And I’m not going to let some old jerk hurt you.”

A sound came from out in the hall. Caleb’s eyes grew wide with fear, and Jester quickly looked for a hiding place. She managed to squeeze into a cupboard and close the door as footsteps entered the room.

“I thought I told you to be silent, 13-REN.” The masculine voice was old and proud sounding. Jester automatically didn’t like whoever it belonged to. “Though I suppose since we’re both awake we might as well do a little impromptu test. It’s not like my knees are going to let me go back to sleep anyways.” There was the sound of metal tapping glass.

The door to the cupboard was slightly ajar, but Jester couldn’t see anything from that angle. She didn’t like sound of what the man was talking about about. Part of her was tempted to jump out of the cupboard and shout out that his name was Caleb or something, but she knew that there was nothing that she could do and that she might just cause Caleb more harm. All she could do was wait for the perfect moment to act.

“I’ve been meaning to test how long it takes you to heal. I know it only takes days for your skin, but what about your muscles?” The voice got louder. A muffled thumping sound came from somewhere in the room. Jester bit her tongue to keep herself from screaming. She didn’t care what Caleb wanted at that point; she was going to get him out of there.

And then Jester’s cell phone alarm went off. Jester raced to turn it off even though she knew there was no way that the man didn’t hear it. After she silenced the phone, Jester held her breath waiting for the worst thing to happen, but nothing did for a minute. Everything silent. Suddenly the door was ripped open and a sharp pain entered Jester’s leg. She looked down to see a needle in her leg with the plunger pushed down. Before her mind could even process what had happened, a hand grabbed Jester by her shirt and dragged her out of the cupboard.

A man who looked really old and gross wrapped his arm around her neck and pressed a cold scalpel against her throat. “I thought I had heard something. It’s rare for us to have visitors here.”

Jester pulled the needle out of her leg and could feel warm blood well up and trickle down her leg. Caleb pounded against the glass of the tank with a his fist, but his eyes looked completely abandoned of hope. “You’re Ikithon,” Jester said but her tongue felt felt weird and she slurred her words. A headache filled her head and her legs shook.

“Ah, I see that my reputation has preceded me, and that the sedative I gave you is starting to take effect,” he said. “Come this way. You’re a bit too heavy for me to carry.” Dr. Ikithon tried to lead her to the operating table, but Jester dug her heels into the ground.

She tried to say something, but only drool came out of her mouth. Everything was going hazy except for the knife at her throat. That stayed sharp and present. Jester struggled to stay up and away from it. Dr. Ikithon was saying something, but nothing made any sense. And then there was nothing.

* * *

 

Dr. Ikithon had Jester. Caleb’s mind raced and panicked. Dr. Ikithon had Jester. She was passed out in his arms, and Caleb was stuck in the tank. “You actually care about her, don’t you?” Dr. Ikithon asked. “Never thought you’d be interested in anything with how you just float around like a dead log.”

Caleb hit that glass wall as hard as he could, but it was pointless. He was pointless. Jester put herself in harm’s way to save him, and now Dr. Ikithon had her.

Dr. Ikithon gave him a long measuring look and looked disgusted. “Don’t tell me you think she’s your mate? Your anatomies are not even compatible,” he scoffed. He dragged Jester up on the operating table and started setting up a tray with surgical tools. “This does give me an idea though.” A particularly nasty blade came out.

The blood rushed away from Caleb’s face. He sunk low to the bottom of the tank watching helplessly.

“We know that you can cry tears, but are they solely functional for clearing your eyes or do emotions play a role in it? The death of your ‘mate’ should teach us a lot of things about how you work. I needed to practice my dissection skills anyways.” Caleb watched in horror. “Oh, don’t give me that look, this is for your protection. We can’t have people that know about you running about. Who knows who they would tell? This is taking care of a problem before it even starts.” Dr. Ikithon cooly selected a scalpel and began to cut away Jester’s clothes.

An anger that Caleb never knew existed in him began to swell in his stomach. The knowledge of how useless and powerless he was left his head. What was left in its place was the fact that he would never let anything hurt Jester. Pushing off of the far wall of the tank, Caleb rammed the glass wall with all of his might and strength. Nothing happened. He did it again and again and again. His everything hurt and not a single crack appeared in the glass.

“Throwing a temper tantrum changes nothing. You should realize that this is a direct consequence of your actions, 13-REN,” Dr. Ikithon said. He turned his back to Caleb and focused instead on Jester.

Caleb crashed into the glass one more time, but it was pointless. There was no way that he was strong enough to break the glass by himself. He swam up to the top of his tank where the hatch was. It opened and locked from the outside, so Caleb never bothered with it. Now, he had a reason to try anyways. The hatch had a handle for closing it and various holes for bolts and things. If Caleb had an octopus, it could’ve easily flattened itself to squeeze out and opened it from the outside. Unfortunately, he did not have an octopus. As he searched the hatch, Caleb would hit his tail against the glass so Dr. Ikithon didn’t get suspicious.

There had to be a way out from inside the tank. Caleb raked his brain to to remember something anything that could help, but Dr. Ikithon was thorough and careful never to give Caleb a chance to escape. But the same was not true of his assistants. One fell in the tank on accident once when Caleb was small. After that, the assistants would hide a screwdriver in the tank. They’d show it to new ones when Ikithon was gone and Caleb was getting tested on. He didn’t know where it was, but he heard in detail multiple times how to use it. Diving down, Caleb searched to fake gravel and rocks of the tank stopping only to crash into the glass.

“Do you ever get tired?” Dr. Ikithon asked. “Next we should test your endurance.”

Caleb turned over the final rock and found a little screwdriver wedged into it. He pried it out and shot up to the hatch. After a few tries, Caleb managed to unlock the hatch and push it open with a loud clank. With little effort, Caleb heaved himself out of the water.

Dr. Ikithon turned away from Jester. An incision began at Jester’s collar bone and went down several inches. Blood filled the line and threatened to spill. And Caleb saw red. “What are you doing?!” Dr. Ikithon demanded. “Get back in your tank!

Caleb lunged and tackled Dr. Ikithon knocking him and his tray of surgical instruments over. Taking advantage of Dr. Ikithon’s surprise, Caleb wrapped his arms around him. The merman held on to the doctor refusing to let him go. Dr. Ikithon grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed them into Caleb’s bicep. Ignoring the pain, Caleb rolled them away from Jester and the tank and towards the open pool. There was no way he was going to let Dr. Ikithon near her ever again.

“Let go of me you fool!” But Caleb just held on tighter as Dr. Ikithon struggled against him. Dr. Ikithon grabbed a knife and stabbed it into Caleb’s gill. Caleb gagged and lost the oxygen he was holding. His grip was starting to slacken and the doctor nearly broke away, but Caleb dug in his nails. “What in the hell is wrong with you?!” Dr. Ikithon spat out. “I created you! You should respect me. I am your parent.”

Caleb spat blood on Dr. Ikithon and pushed them both into the water. Gasping, Caleb drew in a deep breath of water. It burned hurting the gills on his left side, but it got him the oxygen he needed. He was able to get a good grip on Dr. Ikithon again and held him close. The doctor fought against Caleb hard flailing and kicking.

Dr. Ikithon tried to break away to the surface, but Caleb pulled him down to the bottom of the pool away from where Jester was. He just hoped that he could keep Dr. Ikithon occupied long enough to give Veth time to find Jester and get her out of there. Red slowly stained the water from Caleb’s wounds, but he was not going to let that stop him. The doctor’s struggles started to weaken. Caleb could feel himself tiring out as well. His arm ached and it felt like he could never get enough oxygen from each breath. Soon, Dr. Ikithon went limp in Caleb’s arms. Thinking it was a trick, Caleb tightened his grip. But nothing happened. Cautiously, Caleb let go and Dr. Ikithon sunk to the bottom of the pool.

Trent Ikithon was dead.

Caleb stared at him for a long moment. He had no idea that humans could drown so quickly or that Dr. Ikithon was even capable of dying. Part of him thought that Dr. Ikithon would always be there haunting him. But now the doctor was dead, and Caleb was still alive. None of it felt real, but eventually the aching in his gills told him that there was no way it wasn’t.

In a flash, Caleb remembered about Jester and climbed out of the pool. She was still on the operating table, but Veth was there and starting to bandage her up. Veth didn’t even notice Caleb as he crawled over until he he was right next to her. “Caleb!” Veth shouted startled. “You’re alive! We were so worried about you.”

“Is Jester okay?” Caleb signed.

“She’ll be fine. It’s not a very deep cut,” Veth said, but she was frowning. “You’re the one I’m more worried. Let me see you.”

Caleb shook his head. “I heal fast. Take care of Jester.”

“Let me get you some water first. Your poor gills.” Veth stretched out her hand towards Caleb’s neck but didn’t quite touch them.

Caleb agreed to it as she didn’t give him a choice. Veth quickly found two coffee mugs and filled them with water from the tank. He greedily drank one down once Veth went back to bandaging Jester. With his gills bleeding, he found it harder to hold his breath. Once Caleb had his water, Veth completed bandaging the cut on Jester’s chest and then tied Jester’s shirt so it would give her some modesty.

“There,” Veth said as she finished the bandage on Jester’s leg. “Now, will you let me help you?”

Caleb nodded and winced as the pain in his gills flared up. “Will Jester wake up soon?” Caleb asked.

“That’s hard to say. The sedative he gave her will just have to run its course.” Veth was gentle as she checked Caleb’s gills, but it didn’t stop it from stinging. “I’m sorry, but I have to clean it. What were you doing in that pool?”

The blood clouded the pool and Dr. Ikithon was at the bottom. Caleb knew he was going to have to tell her everything, but this was a story he did not want to repeat. “I’ll tell you later.”

“Okay, but you’re not getting out of this.” Veth stitched what she could of his gills closed and cover the wound on his arm first with a bandage and then with plastic wrap to keep it dry.

Jester stirred and and sluggishly tried to get up. Caleb was quick to her side watching her carefully.

“I’ll go get you some more water,” Veth said with a smile that Caleb wasn’t sure what it was supposed to mean. She took her time going to the tank.

Jester opened her eyes. “Cayleb?” she asked.

Caleb grabbed her hand and nodded. “Jss-trrr,” he said. Human words were hard and uncomfortable in his mouth, but Jester’s name was a good one.

“Cayleb,” she said with a smile. “You’re okay.”

Caleb smiled back at her fighting back tears. There were so many things he wanted to tell her, but he didn’t know where to start or how to tell her. He took her hand and pressed it to his chest.

Jester grinned at him as she sat up. “Yeah, they still beat the same.”

Caleb shook his head vehemently and pressed her hand harder to his chest. “Jss-trrr.”

“Oh,” Jester said softly. Her cheeks turned pink. “It’s not that they beat the same. I mean they do, but that’s not what you’re telling me.”

Caleb nodded. “Jss-trrr.”

“You love me,” Jester said. It wasn’t a question, but a fact. A fact that Caleb knew with every fiber of his being. She took his hand placed it over her heart. “I love you.”

“Jss-trrr.”

Tears ran down her face. “I don’t want to give up on you. I keep telling myself that this won’t work, that we’re not supposed to be, but I love you and never want to lose you.”

Caleb nodded. All he wanted was Jester. For her to be happy and to be with her. He had nothing to offer or give her, but that didn’t stop his chest from aching for her. Pressing his forehead to hers, Caleb cried hoping that she could just understand everything she meant to him. “Jss-trrr. Jss-trrr.”

“Cayleb, I want - no, I promise to stay with you forever and to keep you safe,” Jester said. “I don’t know what that means or what it will take, but I’ll do it. If you’d let me, that is.”

“Jss-trrr,” Caleb said nodding. He wanted to do the same. And he didn’t know how he would do it, but he was willing to. Even if it meant staying in a bathtub, he’d do it to stay with her.

Jester leaned in and kissed Caleb softly. He returned it melting into her. It felt like he could just stay like that with Jester forever until Veth cleared her throat behind him. They pulled away from each other blushing pink, but Caleb could see the pleased smile on Jester’s face.

Veth handed Caleb the water and he gratefully emptied the first mug. “There’s going to be a long conversation about what the future’s going to look like. For all of us, but especially you two,” Veth said. Caleb looked away from her and ended up looking right at Jester. They shared a smile and Jester giggled. “But that can wait til we get home. Jester, you get Caleb out of here. I’ll take care of the clean up.”

“Okay, let’s go home, Cayleb,” Jester said as she picked Caleb up.

He rested his head on her shoulder, and there was no other place he’d rather be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so there's going to be an epilogue, but I hoped that this worked as a climax for you guys. Also, this is the first time Ikithon died in one of my fics. So yeah that happened.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EPILOGUE BABY!

Three months after Dr. Ikithon’s sudden and mysterious death, Jester found herself on the docks again. She was nervous, but it was not the same set of nerves that filled her before. Now she was more excited than anything else. 

At the end of the dock was the Brenatto's new ship, the Balleater. It was much larger than their old boat, the MISTake. The Balleater had bunks for four people and was made to be out for months at the time. Perfect for a scientific expedition studying the habits and migration habits of harbor seals. It was also perfect for staying close to a merman.

Jester disappointed at first when Veth had told her about their plans for selling their house and living out in the ocean with Caleb. She knew that it was for the best, but part of Jester felt like she was being left behind. That was until Veth pointed out that they'd need a nanny onboard for Luc. 

Thus Jester was on the dock ready to board her home for the next six months. She never lived in such a small space before. But it was worth it to be with Caleb.

Caleb had spent most of the last three months in the bay. No one was truly comfortable going back to the Brenatto’s house, and Yeza said it was good for Caleb to get used to open waters. There were a few close calls, but Caleb was very good at keeping himself unseen. They were all surprised by how well Caleb took to the bay. The most surprised was Caleb. Dr. Ikithon had spent years telling Caleb how he wouldn't survive a day out in the sea by himself. But, Caleb had proved him wrong.

"Hi Veth! Is Caleb here?" Jester asked as she boarded the ship.

Veth poked her head out of the cabin. "No, he'll meet us out in the sea."

Jester tried to hide her disappointment, but it only got a laugh from Veth. Finding time to spend with Caleb was nearly impossible while preparing for the next six months at sea. "When are we leaving?"

"Not too long," Yeza said stepping on the boat behind her. Luc was following close behind. "The engines all in working order and we've cleared all the checks. We were just waiting for you."

"I hope I wasn't making you wait too long. I know that this is super important for your research," Jester said.

Veth shrugged. "You're on time for what we told you. Once you've put away your stuff, we can get going. Luc, can you show Jester her bunk?"

Luc took Jester's hand and led her down below deck. Jester already had seen their quarters and knew which bunk was her, but she allowed the boy to give her the tour. "Your bunk's above mine," Luc said.

"Lucky me," Jester said. “We're going to have so much fun together."

"And with Caleb?" Luc asked.

Jester nodded with a smile. "That's right." It had been several weeks since she had last seen Caleb, and she was nervous and excited to see him again. They’ve never been apart for so long and Jester knew it was good and normal to have some distance, but part of her worried that maybe now that he was in the ocean like a normal mermaid he no longer needed or liked her. 

The ship started with a jerk and Jester had to catch her balance against the wall. She could already tell that it was going to take her a while to get used to life on the sea, but she wasn’t going to regret joining the Balleater. Even if it meant it was going to be six months before she could get a proper bath.

Luc tugged on Jester's arm. "Can we go up? I want to see the ocean." They were going to see a lot of the ocean in the next six months, but Jester wasn't going to argue with Luc. She wanted to see the sea and where they were going too.

They leaned against the railings of the ship and looked down as they built up speed and soon were zooming across the water.

"Do you think we're going faster than Caleb?" Luc asked.

"I don't know," Jester said. "We'll have to challenge Caleb to a race."

Luc grinned at this. He was missing another tooth, and Jester had to stop herself from cooing over how cute he was. 

"It'll be an hour before we meet up with Caleb," Veth said. Caleb had gone ahead to make sure he didn't get discovered. Sure, he just left a day ahead of everyone, but he still was in brand new territory by himself. If Jester had been told that Caleb would willing go so far out by himself even a week after they saved him from Ikithon, she wouldn't have believed it, but he was thriving now. Pretty soon he probably wouldn't need her anymore.

Jester shook her head banishing the thought. She had promised that she would be with him and protect him, and that's what she was going to do. But what would she do if he didn't need her anymore? The thought made her want to cry and haunted her for the last week. 

After about 45 minutes, they broke out of the bay and away from the smaller islands(Veth and Jester had flipped off the island that Dr. Ikithon's lab was on as they passed it). Jester could no longer watch the waves and sea and instead paced below deck. She loved Caleb; she knew that for a fact and that it wasn't a passing fancy. But what if Caleb just liked her only because she was the first girl he met? Maybe she was what he needed then and he was ready to move on. These weren't thoughts she dared to tell anyone. They were silly and dumb, and she was coming along just to help with Luc. If Caleb no longer loved her, that didn't change anything. At least that's what Jester kept telling herself.

The ship stopped and Jester raced up the stairs. "Is he here?" she asked excitedly.

"He should be close by," Yeza said.

Jester looked around the boat, but saw nothing. "Caleb?" she called out, but there was no response. Her heart sunk as the minutes went by, but maybe this was for the best. It was good for Caleb to be independent and not have to rely on humans. But that didn't stop tears from welling up in Jester's eyes.

"Jss-trrr." It was soft, but Jester would recognize it anywhere.

"Caleb!" She looked down the side of the boat and suddenly a pair of lips met hers. Caleb held on to the side of the boat as he kissed her gently chasing away every single one of Jester’s fears. He still needed her, and even if he didn’t, she still needed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. I hope that you all enjoyed this. I enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> Also, thank you to poyo. Without them, I wouldn't have had half the ideas for this fic and would have never finished also. Also they did art for this fic for my birthday https://twitter.com/Nerdsketchbook/status/1135320631506022402

**Author's Note:**

> So thank the widojest discord for encouraging me to write this and Poyo for helping me out with writer's block. The titale comes from the Aqua song 'We Belong to the Sea'.
> 
> I hope to finish this by May 30th, but we'll see. And I hope you liked this.


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